La febbre dell'oro

I'm just an 18 year old dude in high school that was assigned this movie in a class at my school. When I first saw the genres of this movie I was not looking forward to it at all. It was the first silent movie I was seeing and also the oldest. It had originally seemed like everything I didn't look for in a "good" movie. At the conclusion of this movie I knew that my original thought process was entirely wrong. This movie has certainly changed my view on both silent and older films, especially on a comedic standpoint. There was so much about it that was appealing to the viewer. I recommend this movie to all looking to expand their film genres of interest.

Charles Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" is arguably his finest film. He stars as a wimpy prospector who decides to go to the Klondike in the hopes of striking it rich. What he does not realize is that he may find love (in the form of Georgia Hale) instead of money. In the end that may be all right with him. "The Gold Rush" shows everything that made Charles Chaplin the great performer, writer and director he was. Quite possibly the finest cinematic icon of the 20th Century, Chaplin showed humanity, love and an undying want to entertain all audiences throughout his stellar cinematic career. The movie is exceptional in every way. Although I am not as well-versed with movies from the 1920s as I am with the decades following it, I would still probably call "The Gold Rush" the finest film of that 10-year period. Oh how the cinema misses Charles Chaplin today. 5 stars out of 5.

I've seen both version of this film--the original silent version from 1925 and the re-release by Chaplin in the 1940s. The difference is that the re-release was designed to appeal to a new audience that expected sound from their movies. To do this, title cards were removed--having Chaplin narrate the film. In addition, Chaplin-created music (for the most part--some were classical pieces), sound effects and singing were added to make the movie more palatable to the average viewer. I personally like BOTH versions and the one you watch is up to you if you get a copy of the Warner Brothers release on DVD--it has both plus excellent DVD extras. Otherwise, there have been a lot of public domain versions on video out there--many with terrible quality prints or music or both. The Warner version is the most pristine and beautiful silent print you can find. The version usually shown on Turner Classic movies is the 1942 re-release.

I use this film for my American history class when we do our unit on the history of film, though I might, in the future, use it for my Psychology classes as well (I teach both) because Chaplin's genius came from his obsessive-compulsive nature. The movie reportedly had 27 times more film exposed than you actually see in the film and the shoe eating segment was shot after more than 60 takes!!

The plot involves Charlie going to Alaska for the Gold Rush at the turn of the century. Along the way, he has a series of misadventures that have been thoroughly discussed in the other reviews here on IMDb. Suffice to say, the supporting acting was excellent and the story kept an excellent pace and had enough slapstick to make it fun to watch (something not true of all full-length slapstick comedies--sometimes, their pacing was negatively affected by the transition from shorts to full-length).

This is a gorgeous, well-executed piece of American art and a must for any real cinemaniac. The musical score (arranged by Chaplin), direction, acting and cinematography all are simply perfect--making this, in my opinion, the best full-length silent comedy ever made. This is saying a lot considering how much I love Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton's films!

This silent classic has many strong points - it has a lot of humor, interesting characters, a good story and good settings. It's the kind of film that shows how much a master film-maker can communicate in a silent movie. It overdoes the sentimentality on occasion, but other than that it's a fine film.

Chaplin himself plays the 'Lone Prospector', and he is joined by several other interesting characters in a frozen north setting that sets up some good adventures and drama. There are some memorable scenes in the prospectors' rickety cabins, plus some other good material.

The version of this that is the easiest to find is the one that Chaplin re-edited in the 1940's, adding his own narration and deleting the title cards, which gives it a slightly different feel. (These revisions probably make it a bit easier to follow for those who aren't used to silent films.) You can tell from Chaplin's narration how fond he must have been of "The Gold Rush", and he had a lot of good reasons to be pleased with it. There are a couple of his later films that might be even better and more timeless, but this one contains everything that defined Chaplin and his art.

The Gold Rush is one of Chaplin's best films, as well as one of his most famous. It has been said that it is the film that he most wanted to be remembered by, and it's not hard to see why. Chaplin plays the part of the lone prospector, a young miner during the gold rush. After getting caught in a storm, he hurries to the only shelter that he can find, a wood cabin in the middle of the storm. It turns out that it is already inhabited, and by a tough criminal named Black Larson, no less, and the scene in which Charlie and Big Jim, another prospector, insist to Black Larson that they are going to stay is one of the countless memorable scenes in the film.

Charlie and Big Jim are left alone and without food when Larson goes off to face the storm looking for food (having drawn the lowest card in another amusing scene), and the scenes in the cabin are some of the best in the entire film. There is, of course, the boot eating scene, memorable not only because of its cleverness and effectiveness, but also because while making the film, Chaplin ate so much boot (which was made out of licorice) before he was satisfied with the take that he had to be taken to the hospital to have his stomach pumped. Another thing that was really well done was the special effects. I am still amazed every time I watch the film at how realistic it looks when there is a long shot from outside showing Charlie hanging from the door of the cabin, which is balanced precariously on the edge of a cliff. Also notice the fast paced and very effective music during this scene, the same song that is played in the best scene of the 1996 film Shine, with Geoffrey Rush.

There is also a very noteworthy love element of The Gold Rush, a part of the story that Chaplin generally has much success with in his films. Charlie's amorous interests in Georgia, a dance hall girl, leads to the scene where he performs the famous dance of the dinner rolls, probably the most famous scene in the film, which was also performed very well by Johnny Depp in Benny & Joon. Charlie's relationship with Georgia is also the thing that leads to his presentation of his sympathy for the lower classes, when he meets her on the ship after having become a multi-millionaire. Chaplin's full length films are inherently more famous than his earlier short comedies, and The Gold Rush is one of the best of his full length features. A must see for any Chaplin fan, but The Gold Rush is also a film that anyone who is interested in quality comedy should watch.