Master Rank #67

The Gold Rush

1925

GCML Total9.2640% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Charlie Chaplin

CastCharlie Chaplin · Georgia Hale · Mack Swain

USAEnglishAdventure / Comedy95 minNot Rated
IMDb Top 250; AFI 100Silent FeatureBrisk pace
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

A lone prospector ventures into Alaska looking for gold.

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The Lone Prospector enters the Klondike during a gold rush and becomes trapped in a mountain cabin with Big Jim McKay and fugitive Black Larsen. Reaching a nearby boomtown, he falls for dance-hall performer Georgia while still hoping to strike gold.

Why it belongs

Chaplin finds unforgettable physical comedy in hunger through the boot meal, swaying cabin, and dance of the rolls without diminishing the Tramp's loneliness.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Chaplin joins starvation, longing, and frontier danger to meticulous physical invention—the cabin, the boot meal, and the dance of the rolls—allowing the Tramp's dignity to survive circumstances designed to humiliate him.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

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