Charlie Chaplin Marathon Part II of VII
One does not simply make The Lighthouse without seeing the first thirty minutes of The Gold Rush beforehand. Shoutout to giant chicken surrealism; thanks for that, Chaplin.
After the first act had me dying of laughter, I did not expect nearly the rest of this film to turn into a melancholic cuck tale about The Tramp being manipulatively used by this “red-flag” he has a crush on and ultimately conned into loving her by his very own competitor/bully. Charlie Chaplin’s heartbreak output has me on heads or tales for whether I should be happy for the accomplishments its leading character receives by the end or genuinely worried given the dilemmas of these misplaced desires. But hey! At least The Gold Rush’s climax was a riveting balance to shovel on! A keen way to diverge from the moral crisis at hand!
Also, I had no clue that this was a New Years movie… seriously. I skimmed through like 500 movies on my watchlist today and just so happened to choose The Gold Rush out of all of them to view. Coincidence? Hmm. 2021, I hope that this is a sign that you’re looking out for me!
Verdict: A-
The Eternal Tramp (Chaplin Ranked)
“The Gold Rush” is now available to stream on The Criterion Channel and HBO Max.
Burning the Celluloid 
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