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Chaplin plays the hapless fortune-seeking pan-handler drawn to the famous gold rush of 1898. It's full of inspired moments such as dance of the rolls and the boot-eating scene. It's one of the great silent films, says James Oliver.

Panning for gold is a tricky business; long hours of thankless grind, untold hazards and the constant nagging doubt that you'll never find the treasure you're after. It is, therefore, a pretty fair metaphor for Charlie Chaplin's working methods. But unlike most prospectors Chaplin tapped into a rich seam: The Gold Rush is one of his masterpieces.
 
We join the little Tramp up in the frozen Yukon, ready for an awkward encounter with a ravening bear. And things don't improve when he finds shelter; the snowstorm outside is matched by cabin fever within. Back in what passes for civilisation, the tramp's heart is broken by a dance-hall girl (the winsome Georgia Hale), pushing him out again into the snow to win his fortune.
 
Chaplin is on frisky form throughout, serving up some of his funniest sequences (the improbably hilarious episode where another starving prospector tries to eat him) and his most dextrous (the celebrated dance of the bread rolls). Not simply one of the greatest silent films, this is a veritable mother lode of comedy.

 

James Oliver on 26th July 2010
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