I've had the Gold Rush disc from Netflix for a week, so I thought tonight would be as good as any evening to plop down on my bed and watch. This was the "sound" version that Chaplin released...I would have prefered watching the original silent version. In my film appreciation class in college, I wrote a paper about the differences between the two films, but I have no idea where that paper is, and I have no idea what I wrote. Not in a hurry to dig it out anyway.
I love this movie. Some of my favorite scenes are on the New Years Eve. First, Chaplin alternates between the jovial party at the dance hall and the quiet cabin where the Tramp is waiting for his guests to arrive. He looks out the door and he hears the sound of the party, and you can see a tremendous sadness in his face. He gives up waiting and walks down toward the dance hall, and I find how he frames the next scene absolutely brilliantly: he shoots the party from the outside, through a small window. The Tramp then walks up to the window and stares in. There is such a stark contrast between the outside and the inside, literally, of being left out and being a part of the group. That scene is poetry.
Also, I want to learn how to do the dance of the rolls. My hand-eye coordination is so bad, my hands would probably trip over themselves!
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