Charlie Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush” turns 100

By Susan King

The Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood Boulevard’s movie palace, was bustling on June 26, 1925, because it was the premiere of Charie Chaplin’s third feature film, “The Gold Rush.” 

In fact, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner reported that “there wasn’t vacant seat at the opening,” adding that the courtyard of the theater was “a veritable fairyland of color and light. The most skilled decorators in the realm of make-believe had been at work for a week dressing the enclosure for the occasion.” The notable guests were announced as they entered the theater. And Sid Grauman, the entrepreneur and showman who ran the theater — his Chinese Theatre would open two years later — created a long and lavish pre-show for the evening.

Little wonder that Grauman pulled out all the stops for “The Gold Rush” premiere. He and Chaplin were good buddies.

The only thing that could top the prologue was the comedy itself. The Los Angeles Herald Examiner noted that at the audience loved the film with applause lasting for several minutes and thus, an adored masterpiece was born.

Hysterically funny, but full of heart, pathos and love, “The Gold Rush” finds Chaplin’s beloved Tramp, here called the Lone Prospector, trying to see his fame and fortune during the Klondike Gold Rush. Along the way, there are many iconic comedy moments including the dancing roll sequence,  the teetering cabin, a starving Tramp and fellow prospector Big Jim McKay (Mack Swain) eating the little man’s black boot as if it was a lobster dinner — the boot was made out of black licorice and after a reported 63 takes, Chaplin was taken to the hospital suffering from insulin shock. And speaking of dinner, Big Jim almost resorts to cannibalism when he hallucinates that the Tramp as turned into a big, delicious chicken.

And then the Tramp falls in love with a dance hall girl (Georgia Hale). He may have eyes for her but she initially breaks his heart. 

Hale had replaced Lita Grey, who was 16 and pregnant by the 35-year-old Chaplin when they married. Their union, which produced two sons, ended acrimoniously in 1927 due to his alleged affairs. 

Reviews were generally strong for “The Gold Rush” with the New York Times declaring it a “comedy with streaks of poetry, pathos, tenderness, linked with brusqueness and boisterousness. It is the outstanding gem of all Chaplin’s pictures, as it has more thought and originality than even such masterpieces of mirth as ‘The Kid’ and ‘Shoulder Arms.’”

Variety was even more effusive stating “The Gold Rush” was “the greatest and most elaborate comedy ever filmed and will stand for years as the biggest hit in its field.” And Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance (Chaplin: Genius of Cinema”) proclaimed the comedy as “arguably his greatest and most ambitious silent film; it was the longest and most expensive comedy produced up to that time. However, the greatness of ‘The Gold Rush’ does not rest solely on its comedy sequences but on the fact that they are integrated so fully into a character-driven narrative. Chaplin had no reservations about the finished product. Indeed, in the contemporary publicity for the film, he is quoted, 'This is the picture that I want to be remembered by.'"[12]

Still, Chaplin changed the picture in 1942 eliminating title cards for a new narration he recorded. He added a new score by Max Terr, altered the ending by excising the kiss between Georgia and the Tramp and dropped a subplot. The new version earned Oscar nominations for score and sound recording. 

For its centenary, mk2 Films has given “The Gold Rush” a beautiful 4K restoration of the masterpiece, which was shown in May at Cannes Classics, held before the film festival’s official opening night. Variety reported: “Years in the making, this ‘Gold Rush’ pristinely restores Chaplin’s Tramp to all his downtrodden glory. While the 1925 Alaskan frontier comedy may be marking its centenary; it looks bracingly fresh in this restoration carried out by La Cineteca di Bologna. The restoration was made more complicated because it included an extensive search for any missing footage…the restoration sought to get as close to the 1925 original as possible.” 

The restoration will screen in over 70 countries on its 100th anniversary. And coming full circle, “The Gold Rush” will be returning to the Egyptian Theatre for this centennial anniversary. Vance will be hand to introduce the screening, and you can buy a reproduction of the original 24-page program for a mere 25 cents, the same price it was a century ago.