Customer Reviews

The Gold Rush/Pay Day [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have this version and a rather old VHS silent version which I found in a bargain bin. But I like this better for 2 reasons; 1. On the silent version the captions go by so fast I have to pause the tape to read most of them. 2. It is more interesting and complete with Charlie narrating the film. So get this one instead of the silent version for better picture and continuity. P.S. DO NOT BUY THE DVD OF THIS, IT REALLY IS A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY!

This film may be the funniest movie ever made! If you haven't seen it,buy it now!I had the priv- elage of seeing this film on the silver screen. This video edition has Chaplin's own spoken narration and musical score.The shoe-eating and cabin scenes are brilliant!"Pay Day" is one of Charlie's best short films.This film is actually about something(unlike most 90s movies).If you like this movie also see "City Lights" and "Modern Times".An all time classic!Not to be missed!

This famous Chaplin feature is truly great (like most of them are). The Gold Rush is the definition of a great film. It is sad, funny, and it makes people feel good no matter what. Just touching and beautiful. See every Chaplin film you can.

Besides garnering two Oscar nods for Best Score and Sound, the 1942 re-release of Charlie Chaplin's THE GOLD RUSH is superior to the original for a few reasons:

1.) Charlie precisely recalls the dialogue. His narration syncs up perfectly with actors' mouth movements and eliminates the need for intertitles.

2.) It's projected at natural speed, not the supersonic kind we often associate with silent movies. None of these pre-sound works were ever meant to be seen at such distortedly fast speeds.

3.) This one includes a rewritten Chaplin score, plus some occasional enhancing SFX.

The only downside: Soundtrack-added dub is forced to sacrifice edges of the original silent print.

Famous sequences: Charlie with a live bear, dressed in a chicken suit, eating a boiled shoe, in a cabin teetering on a cliff edge and doing the dinner roll dance. An absolute classic.


Also included is the half-hour short, PAY DAY, a battle of the sexes farce.
SYNOPSIS-- In order to keep her bricklayer hubby, good time Charlie, at home, Mrs. C. confiscates his wages. Charlie manages to lift her purse and goes on the town anyway. Guess what awaits him when he finally calls it a night?


Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll ratings.

(8.3) The Gold Rush (silent-1925/sound-1942) - Charlie Chaplin/Georgia Hale/Mack Swain (uncredited: Fred Karno Jr./Lita Grey/Sid Grauman/Heinie Conklin/Tiny Sandford)

(7.5) Pay Day (silent-1922) - Charlie Chaplin/Phyllis Allen/Mack Swain/Edna Purviance/Syd Chaplin

This film HAS to be one of the funniest films ever made. It is Charlie Chaplin at his best, and every scene is perfectly choreographed to maximize the humour. The film is almost like a series of comedy vignettes, one after the other, and all of them are absolutely hilarious. Unlike Chaplin's later "talkie", The Great Dictator, the jokes in this semi-silent movie (commentary by Charlie Chaplin) never go on too long and the it's always fresh.
The only slight hitch in the movie is the last 30mins or so, where Chaplin finds the need to squeeze in a (slightly unrealistic) love story. It's still quite watchable, although the comedy dies down a little.

Bottom line is, if you're looking for something that is drop-dead funny, buy/rent/borrow this movie! It doesn't drag in the least, unlike some other early movies, and I guarantee that you'll have a good time watching it.

As for Pay Day, it is a far more tame film than the Gold Rush, and shorter too (it is 30 minutes at most). The basic story is about a construction worker (played by Chaplin) who comes to work on pay day, gets yelled at by his boss, goes around town and parties away his wages, gets lost, and then comes home just before nightmarish wife wakes up. I can't say that it's a particularly bad film, but it's not really all that exciting either. I guess it's always nice to get two films in one VHS, but really, The Gold Rush is clearly by far the superior film here.

I have now seen "The Gold Rush" twice. I have only seen the 1942 re-edited version with Chaplin's voice-over. The first time I saw it, I didn't find the film to be the masterpiece so many others have called it. And I didn't think it was a strong enough movie to be Chaplin's best (Supposedly this is the movie Chaplin wanted to be remembered for). My main fault with the movie was I wanted to see the original silent version. I found the voice-over distracting. I watched the movie again recently and now I find it to be a masterpiece of early slapstick comedy.

"The Gold Rush" tells the story of the tramp's (Chaplin) search for gold and love. It basically takes all the elements that would later come in films like "City Lights" and "Modern Times" but here it was done for the first time. Chaplin meets Big Jim (Mack Swain) and a known criminal Black Larsen (Tom Murray) as they all try to survive the cold weather and find gold.

As I watched the movie again I was surprised by the amount of memorable moments the film has. Take the scene where Larsen demands Chaplin leave his cabin but Chaplin can not. The wind is blowing too hard and instead of Chaplin leaving he finds he keeps getting blown back in. Or what about the famous shoe eating scene. And the dance of the rolls. This is the film people should first be expossed to when discovering Chaplin.

After the beginning moments, which I think focus more on the slapstick humor, Chaplin then decides to turn the movie into a love story and combine comedy and drama in a way only Chaplin could have. The movie is still funny but now another level seems to have been added to the story. The movie could have worked just being about these three guys trying to find gold. And I'm sure Chaplin could of come up with hilarious scene after scene. But, no, Chaplin wanted to bring something else into his story.

People have been and will continue to debate over who was a better comedian. Chaplin or Keaton. The public opinion has shifted back and forth. Currently it seems Keaton is the favorite. But, I think either way you look it both men were talented and both were extremely funny. I find that I enjoy watching Chaplin the most from all the silent clowns. He seems to have been the first one to want to add something more to his movies. He seemed more concerned with storytelling than Keaton or Lloyd. They strickly went after laughs, but Chaplin managed to perfectly blend comedy and drama.

"The Gold Rush" as I said is a masterpiece of early slapstick comedy. It is here you will see what kind of comedy genuis he was. And will forever remain in my mind the greatest comedy director of all-time.

Bottom-line: One of Chaplin's best. A comedy masterpiece filled with many of Chaplin's most famous bits. Fans of silent comedy and Chaplin NEED to see this movie.

This film, along with City Lights and Modern Times, certainly constitute Chaplin's "hat trick". This is the quintessential Chaplin! Charlie the "chicken" being chased by a starving Mack Swain, the epicurian delights of a parboiled shoe, the miner's cabin hanging on the edge of a precipice, the dream sequence featuring "the dance of the rolls" - this movie has it all. It also has Chaplin's own narration (HUGE mistake on his part). Chaplin's films don't require narration - that was his whole reasoning for keeping them silent for as long as he did. They speak for themselves! Long live the Little Tramp!

Perhaps Chaplin's best movie (it vies with City Lights and The Kid for that honor). Very funny, and of course touching. Famous highlights are Chaplin eating a shoe and his dance with the dinner rolls. Actually, the original version (without Chaplin's narration) may be even better, but either version is well worth seeing.

This is a MUST SEE! Chaplin's Little Tramp overcomes the wilds of the Klondike, the thrills of the dance hall girls, hunger that makes a boiled shoe a gourment delight, and the delirium of the gold prospector who believes The Tramp is a chicken that is ready to roast. The ballet of the Dance of the Dinner Rolls is classic. Chaplin's mise-en-sene, directing and close-ups for emotional expression, (and what expressions!) are masterful.

You don't need my review to know this is a great movie. I just wish we consumers were given the chance to purchase a version with just the music sound track without the additional dialogue. Perhaps it is just nostalgia on my part for the film I saw as a child but I find the voice in this version, which is that of Chaplin himself, at times superfluous and at its worse moments irritating.