Whenever I watch a Chaplin film I doubt him. He’s just an overrated comedian I think, and his reputation benefits from making films when the medium was at such a nascent stage in it’s history. The first half hour of The Gold Rush bears me out, a couple funny gags but nothing inspiring. But once the little tramp returns to the mining town things change, Chaplin adds a lyricism to his dance hall mime. It is true what has been said: when Chaplin wanted to have a beautiful shot no one could touch him.
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