United Artists. Director Charles Chaplin; Producer Charles Chaplin; Screenplay Charles Chaplin; Camera Rollie Totheroh; Editor Reginald McGahann; Music Charles Chaplin, Max Terr
Charles Chaplin
Mack Swain
Georgia Hale
Tom Murray
With music and narrative dialog added, Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush [1925] stands the test of time. Chaplin's inimitable cane, derby, hobble and moustache of early days still retain solid comedy for both the younger generation and older folks.
Chaplin did a remarkable job in the editing, background, music and narrative for the new version of his greatest grosser. Original two hours of running time has been edited down to 71 minutes.
Result is a technical achievement in speeding up action of a silent picture to the requirements of sound, and still not making apparent the increased speed in projection.
All the episodes of Gold Rush are retained to provide strong comedy reaction of original, like the prospector's cabin marooned in the storm with Chaplin stewing the shoe when food runs out; Chaplin's own narrative is crisply delivered, and he refers to his screen character as 'The Little Fellow' throughout.
1942: Nominations: Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture, Sound
(B&W) Available on VHS. Extract of a review from 1942. Running time: 71 MIN.
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