Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Gold Rush


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The Gold Rush
1925
Director: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Georgia Hale

When I first started watching classic film and had it in my head to start delving seriously into silent films, I figured the best place to start would be Chaplin. Comedy is universal, and Chaplin is immortal. Starting off my journey through silent film with Charlie Chaplin was a very good idea, and The Gold Rush proved to me that a movie made more than eighty years ago can still make people laugh.

The Lone Prospector (Chaplin as his Little Tramp) heads to into the wilderness and meets up with another prospector, Big Jim (Swain). The two hungrily sweat out a Yukon snowstorm in a small cabin, where Chaplin immediately shows off some tremendously famous comic set pieces. After the storm, the prospector heads into a town where he falls in love with the local dance hall girl Georgia (Hale), despite her indifference to him. Later, he meets up with Big Jim again, but this time, he feels the urgency to find gold, as he is convinced that if he strikes it rich, he can win Georgia’s heart.



I feel like I have to say this right off the bat: I greatly prefer City Lights and Modern Times to The Gold Rush. In both of those other movies, I see a more mature Chaplin, a Chaplin who imbues more tragic soul into his films, much more so than what he did in this particular film. While the set pieces in The Gold Rush are extraordinary, and I can certainly see Chaplin starting to flirt with the concept of tragicomedy, mostly through the plight of the prospectors and in a few scenes of romantic tension between Georgia and the Tramp, ultimately, it feels like an unfulfilled promise to me. If anything, I want more. Chaplin *thinks* about breaking my heart in The Gold Rush, and there are moments of semi-poignancy, but he doesn’t go far enough. He would push the emotional core over the edge in those later works, which is precisely why I prefer them. There. Getting that off my chest right now. Do not expect me to gush giddily over The Gold Rush. I can’t.


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Having said all that, the comedy in The Gold Rush is pretty damn spectacular. When you say “Chaplin,” odds are that you’ll think of one of the classic comedy pieces from this movie. The opening half hour is essentially the Little Tramp hungry in a cabin with Big Jim, and we get all kinds of comedy gold from that. Big Jim visualizes the Tramp as a chicken, the door of the cabin blows open and the Tramp has to literally walk against the wind (funnier than it sounds, trust me), and the absolutely iconic “Tramp eating the boot” scene. Trivia tidbit: the boot that Chaplin eats was made of black licorice, and they did so many takes on that scene that Chaplin actually had to be taken to the hospital for insulin shock. Later in the film, there’s the fork-and-roll dance, performed when the Tramp is trying to entertain Georgia and some of her lady friends. Finally, we end with the fantastic cabin-on-the-edge-of-a-cliff sequence, which believably pulls off some 1920s camera trickery in addition to having some very funny stuff. The Gold Rush has some of Chaplin’s greatest comedy sequences.


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But for me, that’s the most praise that I can really heap on it. Most of the reason why I didn’t feel nearly as emotionally connected to The Gold Rush as I have in other Chaplin films is because of the character of Georgia. I really hate Georgia. She is completely and utterly unworthy of the Tramp’s affection, and therefore the ending royally pissed me off. She’s cruel. She’s a dance hall girl (read: prostitute) – which I have zero problems with – and has developed a chip on her shoulder about men – which I also have zero problems with. Where I run into issues with her is when she openly mocks the Tramp. She plays a cruel and heartless joke on him. When she “apologizes” to him, it’s actually by mistake. For this, she’s awarded in the film with a happy life of wealth and riches. What a ripoff. She’s a downright bully, and she’s the heroine. I call bullshit. She deserves that prick Jack that she’s supposedly engaged to; and that’s another thing! She has one scene with big bully Jack where he’s kind of a dick to her and she’s very standoffish. In a later scene, she’s all lovey dovey with Jack, cooing over him and saying she loves him. What the hell! Bitch don’t deserve the Tramp. Bitch should die out in the cold. The few tiny shows of moral redemption she has don’t even begin to make up for the cruel bullying she did over the course of the rest of the movie. Is this a personal problem of mine? Probably. But it’s a major stumbling block for my enjoyment of this movie.

Empirically, I can appreciate the hell out of The Gold Rush. It’s really amazing, in terms of sets, scenery, and special effects, and Chaplin mines comedy gold. However, I don’t love it, and I don’t think I ever can. The film wound up feeling a little emotionally unfulfilling, and I actively wanted to punch Georgia in the face. Ah well.

Arbitrary Rating: 7/10. If I allowed my emotions to win out, it would be lower. I have to keep reminding myself of just how great the comedy is. Yes, that is how much I hated Georgia. Comedy and Chaplin’s performance: 10/10. Plot and all the other characters: 4/10. 7 out of 10 is a good compromise between the two.

9 comments:

  1. I liked this one a little more than you did (I'm still more of a Keaton fan), but as I look back at my own thoughts on it, I liked it more than you did because I almost completely ignored Georgia and focused instead almost entirely on The Tramp.

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    1. I'm SOOOOOOOO much more a Keaton fan than a Chaplin fan. I rewatched this and The General in an 18 hour period; The General knocks my socks off. The Gold Rush has a heroine that pisses me off.

      I love that in enjoying this film, you wound up ignoring Georgia. If I could have ignored Georgia, trust me, I would like this film a hell of a lot more. Unfortunately, it was something that I latched onto that I just couldn't see beyond.

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  2. Weird! I have this scheduled to be reviewed tomorrow!

    I agree with your comment above about being a Keaton fan too :). Having watched The General not long ago it made me realise how average he makes Chaplin look.

    Still, my favourite moment was the fork and bread dance, without a doubt. Simply genius!

    Ed
    Empire's 5-star 500

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    1. Ha ha, that's rather auspicious. I'll look forward to reading your thoughts on this movie too!

      City Lights is perhaps the ultimate tragicomedy masterpiece. Chaplin just completely shatters my soul with THAT film. But in terms of pure comedy, I DEFINITELY prefer Keaton. Have you seen his Sherlock Jr.? It's very short, but completely brilliant.

      The fork and bread dance is so famous, and such a joy to watch!

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  3. I think it is indeed Gold Rush time! When I saw you reviewed it yesterday I flatly refused to read it because mine was sceduled for today. And I am not alone it seems.
    Good too that I waited reading your comments. My take on Gold Rush is rather different. First of all like Steve Georgia did not really bother me. She appears to me to be just one more character stepping on the tramp making his infatuation with her so much more tragic. Secondly Gold Rush does delve as much into tragedy as City Lights and Modern Times. Yes, Chaplin gets better at what he does, but it is all there in Gold Rush.

    But great to see you agitated. I think we all have these characters that pisses us off. I could mention a few.

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    1. It's amusing that everyone seems to be doing Gold Rush at the same time. I'm glad I got mine up first - like you, I don't like to be influenced too much by other people's reviews!

      I've made my peace with The Gold Rush. I have accepted that it is a "classic film" that I will not and cannot love. Y'know, I'm OK with that. I get that loads of other people love it. I *appreciate* The Gold Rush, but I really can't say more than that. And as to her just being another character stepping on The Tramp, if she had gotten a comeuppance at the end, been punished for her cruelty, I would agree with you. The fact that she is rewarded for her terrible behavior... I have real problems with that.

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  4. It's been a while since I saw this. I honestly don't remember much about the woman. I do remember all the scenes in the cabin, though. I consider The Gold Rush an out and out comedy, unlike City Lights and Modern Times. I don't really compare them since they are different genres.

    Even though I don't remember much about the woman's actions, from your description I've had a similar experience. Flip the genders and that's the problem I had with My Fair Lady. Professor Higgins is a jerk and Eliza deserves far better than him.

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    1. I would give it another viewing, because I disagree that it's out-and-out comedy. I think this is almost Chaplin's "transition" film, from pure comedy to tragicomedy. There are such sad moments of poignancy here!

      OH GAWD, the ending of My Fair Lady annoys the crap out of me too for exactly the reasons you said. He's done nothing to deserve her, but he gets rewarded for being a jackass. What the hell?!?!?!?

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