Seeing the diverse range of an actor's filmography, especially in the early days of film, is always so interesting to me. Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush is another of these movies that continue to impress me with his use of slapstick and storytelling. As it is one of his earlier films, I was not sure what to expect when it came to how he blended his comedy with his writing but I still believe that he pulled off a decent job. However, I was not as engaged with this one as I was City Lights and it might be for multiple reasons. Whether or not the narration throughout this film worked for me is still up in the air but I'm leaning more towards no. While this film was released before the previously mentioned one, it is still interesting to see how Chaplin's style changed over the years and how he developed the tramp to become one of the most iconic characters that nearly every audience identifies him with today.
The tramp (Charles Chaplin) is a young man who is in search of gold and fame in the treacherous mountains. Prospecting for his future, he meets a man named Black Larsen (Tom Murray) who seems to be his competition in finding the fabled gold treasure. While the tramp searches to survive the wintery conditions and come out rich, he also struggles with the newfound love for the dashing Georgia (Georgia Hale). The script, written by Chaplin himself, is where I found most of my enjoyment from this film. I once again really enjoyed seeing how he structures his story and utilizes his slapstick within the confines of genuine storytelling. The Criterion version that I watched from Amazon had a narration from Chaplin himself talking the audience through the film. While I do not think this original voiceover was there in the original version, it, unfortunately, kind of made me tune out from the story. What I think is the strength of most silent films is how well they are able to tell their story without the use of words, obviously. Visual storytelling is what Chaplin has become a master in but this narration did not exactly work for me. I feel like I did not connect with this film as much as his City Lights solely due to his explanation of the narrative. It is a bummer, though, because I still did genuinely appreciate how Chaplin is able to turn physical humor into serious drama and vice versa. Seeing him flex his talents as a multi-talented filmmaker will never cease to be impressive to me and this film was no exception.
What stood out to me the most throughout this film, however, was Chaplin's use of location and models to express something small as very big. While the majority of this film takes place on the snowy mountains, the way that this film was shot made it appear as if these characters were really facing these life-threatening scenarios. Obviously, much of this film's substance is highly exaggerated for comedic effect, but Chaplin and his director of photography Roland Totheroh were able to turn dramatic situations into comedy with ease. The models that were used, such as the cabin on the mountain and the vast shots of the villages, were beautiful and I love how these artists were able to get this massive world on such a small scale. I also really like how Chaplin was able to take this time period of history and parody it by placing his satirical character of the tramp within its world. It made for some hilarious moments as he made fun of the prospector stereotypes and broke many boundaries of what a successful gold prospector could look like. Of course, his trademark slapstick was present too in order to further make fun of this time period, which only added to the hilarity. Although I did not connect with this film as much as his later works, his talent is still completely there and the fact that he controlled nearly every aspect of this film is what made it that much better. Now I'm just excited to watch Modern Times and see what it is about that film and him specifically that have become so renowned.
The Gold Rush is an earlier look into Chaplin's outing as a star, writer, producer, and director, but one that does not fail to deliver what it promises. He is such an icon in early cinema and will be forever remembered, cherished, and even parodied for the foreseeable forever. Forget the MCU, DCU, or any other universe that tries to build upon themselves; the LTU (Little Tramp Universe) is the only one I want to exclusively follow.
My Rating: ★★★
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