The Golden Age of Comedy
(Post 3 of 12)
The Gold Rush
Charlie Chaplin's full length Klondike adventure The Gold Rush includes probably the Little Tramp's most famous bit of comic business, the starving man's dining off his shoes as if the nails were chicken bones and shoelaces were spaghetti. Other fun bits include his partner envisioning Charlie as a turkey and coming after him as if he was dinner. Chaplin said in Charles Chaplin: My Life in Pictures these comic ideas came from the idea of starving fortune hunters during the gold rush resorting to cannibalism.
Of course, we also have the love story of Charlie falling for the local saloon girl, who mocks him behind this back before eventually...well, you know she'll eventually discover she loves him too.
Chaplin's feature films are well represented in the 1001 movie book. (The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times, Monsieur Verdoux) Though I really think they could have found room for The Great Dictator, too.
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