293 - The Gold Rush, United States, 1925. Dir. Charles Chaplin.

Friday, October 20, 2017

293 - The Gold Rush, United States, 1925.  Dir. Charles Chaplin.

Six hundred men walk a line through the Chilkoot Pass.

In search of gold.

The Lone Prospector makes his way alone through a lone precipice.

Followed by a black bear.

He finds a sign marking Jim Sourdough, a man lost below in a pile of snow.

The blizzard blows.

The Lone Prospector takes shelter in a lone cabin.  Not knowing it belongs to a wanted man.  Black Larsen.  Violent.  And dangerous.

Larsen returns.  And demands The Prospector leave.

The Prospector tries.

But Nature does not let him.

Larsen opens the door.  The winds blow through.  The Prospector walks against the wind.  And cannot leave the room.  It blows him back.  He walks as if on a treadmill.

The back door opens and blows him out.  He crawls back.

Big Jim McKay makes a Lucky Strike.  Stands on a mountain of gold.  But loses his tent to the storm.  And makes his way to Larsen's cabin.

Big Jim and Black Larsen struggle over a rifle.  The Lone Prospector tries to evade.  But everywhere he runs the rifle follows.  Finally, the last bullet fires.  The Lone Prospector thinks he is hit.  But Black Larsen lies moaning on the floor.

Alive.

The three men are hungry.

Starving.

The Lone Prospector eats a candle from the lantern.  He adds salt.

Big Jim says one must brave the storm.  They will draw cards.  The low man goes.  Big Jim draws the King of Clubs.  The Lone Prospector draws a three.  He gets ready to go.  Black Larsen draws a two.  He goes.  The Lone Prospector is blown by the wind out the back door.

Two men huddle in a pup tent.  In search of Black Larsen.  He appears.  Pulls a revolver.  They pull theirs.  He wins.  Gets them both.

The Lone Prospector cooks his shoe.  Serves it to Big Jim.  Give him the sole.  Keeps the top.  Big Jim switches.  The Lone Prospector eats his sole.  Big Jim eats the top.

Black Larsen finds Big Jim's claim.  Stakes it.  Takes it.

The Lone Prospector and Big Jim wait at the cabin,  Big Jim looks at him.  Sees him as a great big chicken.  Salivates.  Laughs.

The Lone Prospector hides the knife in the bed.

Big Jim chases him with the rifle.

Then sees that it is he.  And gives up the rifle.

Then chases him anyway.  With an axe.  The Lone Prospector defends himself with the rifle.

The situation is dire.

They go their separate ways.

Big Jim is overtaken by Black Larsen.  Larsen knocks him out with a shovel.  Then loses his life to a cliff break.

Meanwhile, in town.  The newly built village.  The outpost.

Jack, the ladies' man.

Georgia, the lady.

Georgia takes pictures at Elizaroff Photos.

The Monte Carlo Dance Hall.

She shows her pictures.

Jack bothers her.

The Lone Prospector enters.  The Stranger.  Sees Georgia.  Love at first sight.

The people dance.

He watches.  His foot wrapped like a shipped package.

He sneaks a shot from a waiter's tray.  Overhears her.  Picks up her picture left torn on the floor.  Watches her avoid Jack's machinations.

Becomes her dancing partner to help her escape.

And so begins the love story.

The Tramp falls in love.

But will she notice him?

Can he win her heart?

Can he find his next meal?

Charlie Chaplin filmed what he had seen in real life.

Six hundred men in a long line trying to find their fortune.

He brought in 600 men by train to the Chilkoot Pass.  And filmed them for two weeks.

He built a 250,000-foot replica of the Pass on his personal studio lot to shoot the rest of the film.

The freezing Alaskan cold in the burning Californian sun.

Men had really eaten their shoes.

And they had really eaten each other.

And Chaplin knew how to turn tragedy into comedy.

And capture what it meant most to be human.

The Tramp, as always, has a big heart.

He longs for food.

He longs for love.

And we cheer for him.

To get a bite to eat.

And to get the girl.

As men rush for gold.

As in their midst walks a man.

With a heart of gold.