The Gold Rush and Topic 1 - Jamie Horton

 Jamie Horton

Professor Saphire

COM 126.01

9/25/20

The Gold Rush

    Sometimes the most basic of premises create the most fascinating of stories, and Charlie Chaplin’s “The Gold Rush” is no exception. Originally released in 1925, with a mildly enhanced re release in 1942, The Gold Rush was a hit almost instantly when it came out, and It's no surprise why. The film’s premise of a prospector looking for his fortune in the Klondike and discovery of love combined with Chaplin’s hilariously engaging slapstick created a rollercoaster that audiences have loved for decades. But the combination of realism and antirealism, with the bonus of incredible editing for the time helped to push the realm of what cinema was capable of. 

    Many of the first films ever created were of our everyday lives, and realism formed out what was, for lack of a better term, realistic to what we see and experience in our everyday lives, and this is expanded upon in the movie. As Mark Cousins showed in his documentary, filmmakers such as D.W. Griffith can make films that can show the grandiose and large scale of the world, and scenes like this can be found in the Gold Rush. From the introduction, with over six hundred men climbing up a snowy mountain, each one in search of their treasure, to the dance halls with everyone dancing, the movie shows us the grand scale and everyday life of characters, allowing it to be more believable. 

    On the opposite side of the reality spectrum, Antirealism is in full display in Chaplin's work, and much of the comedy comes from this absurdity of sorts. Before Chaplin's work, George Méliès’ film ‘A Trip To The Moon’ was a pioneer of sorts for showing fantastical scenes of magic and space travel. Chaplin uses these same ideas of the unreal in his comedy, from the eating of his shoes, showing hallucinations of man-sized chickens contribute to the crazy world of Chaplin’s main character. The two main scenes that emphasize his antirealism is the scene of crazed frigid winds blowing him out of the house during a storm, and the scene of Chaplin and Big Jim’s cabin almost falling off a cliff. In both scenes, the characters are in unrealistic situations, being at the mercy of the elements, but while these scenarios are antirealistic, these scenes also show off his expert use of editing. 

    The camera work and framing of these two scenes create tension and humor, especially in the climax of the film, where Chaplin, and Big Jim are teetering in a cabin on the ledge of a large cliff. The camera cuts back and forth to a set that appears to be rocking back and forth, and a miniature version of the set, placed precariously on the ledge of a cliff. This editing is especially useful in the use of continuing the narrative of the characters in danger, and how they escape it through their looney ways. This use of parallel editing also contributed to how Chaplin was able to use humor and terror to expand the cinematic language. 

    It's clear through the use of comedy, editing, and expert filming, it's no surprise why The Gold Rush is still perceived as a masterwork of comedy and pushed the limits on what can be done with lights, camera, and action.