Charles Chaplin said
The Gold Rush was the film he'd most like to be remembered for. And why not? With its majestic opening shots, filmed on location with hundreds of extras traipsing over a very real mountain. And with its pioneering use of visual effects (the model work used as the house blows over the cliff holds up pretty well today). It also features some of his most enduring and oft-repeated bits of comic business: the dancing rolls; the scene where he is mistaken for a chicken; the scene where he eats his shoes. Chaplin liked it so much that in 1942 he re-edited it, writing and recording a narration, whilst also adding sound effects. His other films all benefited from the addition of newly recorded scores, but only The Gold Rush was afforded this full make-over, as the comedian hoped to make it accessible to a new generation raised on talkies. This 1942 version is, of course, pretty horrendous. Chaplin was way ahead of his time in a lot of ways, for instance: he spent a then unprecedented amount of time and money on his films in an era where most of his contemporaries put out several a year. But it seems he also led the way for George Lucas' 1997 tampering with the Star Wars trilogy, with his 1942 version of The Gold Rush. His changes were certainly no less damaging to the film. The great skill of Chaplin (or for that matter any of the silent clowns) was his ability to transmit information without sound, using subtle mine and facial expression, only occasionally resorting to very short intertitles. The way he was able to base the central mistaken identity of the film City Lights on the slamming of a car door, is made all the more incredible because it takes place in silence. So to have a version of a silent movie in which somebody narrates the action as it happens can't help but undermine the craft of the film. Purists and fans of Chaplin's work will probably not wish to watch this compromised version of the film. And so it was fairly disappointing to find that the new Blu-ray/DVD dual format re-release of The Gold Rush features only this 1942 version in high definition.
Anyone hoping to watch the film in its original 1925 cut must settle for the DVD. Adding insult to this injury, is the fact that the DVD is relatively light on extra features (again, none of which are on the Blu-ray at all). The features here are identical to those found on the edition included in the very excellent and beautifully presented 2003 DVD box set, the entire collection of which you can now track down for less money than you'd expect to pay for this new edition of The Gold Rush on its own. Which is a pity and this is a missed opportunity, especially with the added space on a Blu-ray disc and the significance of this movie.
EXTRAS
The extras include: Chaplin biographer
David Robinson's excellent introduction which wonderfully sets the film in its context, and there are some trailers, a photo gallery and a nice little documentary feature has also been carried over from that earlier release. But this feels far from a definitive edition of the film. Would it have been too much for a few relevant selected shorts to have been included? Or maybe a newly recorded commentary, or something? Admittedly the high definition transfer of the 1942 version is pretty nice looking, but it is hard to justify the need to see The Gold Rush in a better condition than its maker ever did.
The Great Dictator,
Modern Times and
The Kid are also now available in this format, and as they were not monkeyed around with in quite the same way as The Gold Rush, they are perhaps better value. The Gold Rush is, however, completely pointless in this form and I would strongly urge any but the most ardent completest not to buy it. Unless of course money is no object and you have a great liking of the '42 cut. A magnificent film though.
The Gold Rush is available now on Blu-ray.