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"The Gold Rush" 189
again, winning a new generation of devotees and proving itself a timeless masterpiece. Except for the titles, almost nothing was cut. Chaplin's pleasant commentary kept referring to the leading character as "the little fellow." The musical effects were valid contributions. The shoe dinner was eaten to typical "dinner music" and the roll dance was performed to perfectly synchronized dance music.
For the production the company went on location in the snow-covered mountains of Nevada. A pathway was cut through the snow for several thousand feet up a mountain, to represent the Chilkoot Pass in Alaska. Crowds of extras were used in this scene which is reminiscent of similar "long shots" of pioneers in "The Covered Wagon" and "Grass." Not all the scenes shot in Nevada were used. Other sequences were filmed against snowfields of rock salt against not too obvious back drops constructed in the studio; and plaster mountains were erected on the lot behind the town set.
Reports of the production costs of "The Gold Rush" range from "about the same as 'The Kid' " ($300,000) to $1,000,000. The actual cost was probably midway between these two figures. Begun in the spring of 1924, production of "The Gold Rush" lasted fourteen months. Cut and previewed in Hollywood in June, when more than a reel was pared, it had its New York premiere on August 16, 1925, at the Strand Theatre, where all Chaplin's films since "A Dog's Life" had opened. Chaplin attended the premiere and responded to an ovation with a modest speech.
Chaplin had conquered again after a two-and-a-half year absence from the screen, topping in artistry and popularity "The Freshman," Harold Lloyd's hilarious, gagfilled hit which opened about the same time, and Buster Keaton's droll "The Navigator" and fantastically brilliant "Sherlock, Jr."
"The Gold Rush" was one of the big money-makers of