The Gold Rush (United Artists) (1925)

Use These Newspaper Stories During The Run CENTENARIAN IN CHAPLIN COMEDY Old Time Confederate Veteran Dances and Shadow-boxes in “The Gold Rush” “Daddy” Taylor, a beloved old charac¬ ter of the Hollywood “movie extras bri¬ gade,” was given his chance to do his stuff in Charlie Chaplin’s comedy, “The Gold Rush,” now playing at the. theatre. “Daddy” who says he is now in his one hundredth year, boasts of his youth¬ ful agility. Some of his stunts, for the amusement of the players on the Chaplin set consisted of shadow boxing, doing a buck and wing dance, followed by turn¬ ing a couple of cartwheels. Charlie was amazed and amused at seeing the old fellow “cutting-up” and immediately arranged an added bit to “The Gold Rush.” And in the dance hall scene, there the public will see “Daddy” Taylor doing his stuff. Taylor is a civil war veteran from Vir¬ ginia and prior to his fighting for his South was a U. S. government scout. His veteran papers and scout credentials attest to the authenticity of his age. SHOT GUN COMEDY IN CHAPLIN niM Usually Terrifying Muzzle Made Funny in Comedian’s “The Gold Rush” There is nothing particularly amus¬ ing about a double-barrelled shotgun in itself, yet this weapon plays an im¬ portant part in the drollery of Charlie Chaplin’s comedy-drama, “The Gold Rush” at the . Theatre. The efforts of Charlie, in the role of the Lone Prospector, to keep away from the muzzle when Black Larsen, played by Tom Murray, and Big Jim McKay, portrayed by Mack Swain, are engaged in deadly combat, is re¬ garded by many as one of the funniest scenes of the picture. The shotgun again plays an import¬ ant part when the Lone Prospector and McKay are stormbound in a cabin and the latter, maddened by hunger, seeks to slay his companion. OLD-TIME MUSIC IN CHAPLIN COMEDY Old time memories are recalled by the music played as an accompaniment to Charlie Chaplin’s great comedy “The Gold Rush,” a United Artists Corporation release, now playing at the . Theatre. Strains of famous old time melodies, such as: “On the Bowery,” “My Wild Irish Rose,” “Auld Lang Syne,” “Loch Lomond,” “Waltz Me Around Again, Willie,” “Pretty Maiden Milk¬ ing a Cow,” “Fascination Waltz,” “A Thousand Kisses Waltz,” “The Wan¬ dering Minstrel,” “When I Look Into the Heart of a Rose” and many of the other old-timers are rendered during the showing of “The Gold Rush.” On hearing them reminiscent thought goes back to the days when these beautiful melodies held sway and jazz was a thing unheard of. FROM ENGINEERING TO MOTION PICTURES Malcolm Waite Has Important Role in New Chaplin Comedy Malcolm Waite who plays the role of Jack Cameron—Jack, the ladies’ man— in Charlie Chaplin’s comedy “The Gold Rush,” a United Artists Corporation re¬ lease, now playing at the .. Theatre, is a comparative newcomer to the screen. Born in Menominee, Mich., thirty two years ago and educated in New York, he completed his schooling at the MacKenzie School, Dobbs Ferry, N. Y. Waite started on a career of engineer¬ ing. While on a visit to Hollywood in 1924, at the request of his friend. Jack Pickford, he appeared in a picture with Jack. Later Waite played the part of Perkins in Mary Pickford’s “Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall.” His appearance in “The Gold Rush” is the first real part which Malcolm Waite has played. He brings to the screen a naturalness of delineation which promises to prove very popular with the public and we would like to see more of this type of acting on the screen. COMEDY AND PATHOS COMBINED IN FILM Charlie Chaplin Does the Un¬ usual in New Picture “The Gold Rush” It has been said that to combine comedy and pathos in a film produc¬ tion and not destroy the illusions of the audience requires a truly great artist. In “The Gold Rush,” his great com¬ edy-drama of Alaska in ten parts, now at . Theatre, Charlie Chap¬ lin seeks the sympathies in the role of a weakling prospector, a hard luck “sourdough” in the Alaskan wilder¬ ness. One of the most touching scenes is where Chaplin prepares what to him is a banquet, but really is a pitiful at¬ tempt at an elaborate dinner, to en¬ tertain Georgia, the dancehall girl, and her friends. His guests fail to arrive and it grad¬ ually dawns on him that they do not intend to come and that he is the vic¬ tim of a ghastly joke. “The Gold Rush” is now showing at the .theatre under a United Artists Corporation release. CHAPLIN PORTRAYS GREAT LONELINESS But He Makes Comedy of It All in His New Film, “The Gold Rush” Were you ever out in the great alone. When the moon was awful clear, And the icy mountains hemmed you in With a silence you ’most could hear. Then you have a hunch what it means to be alone in a crowd, a stranger in a strange land—among strange people where every man is for himself. If you don’t know what this feels like, then see Charlie Chaplin in his great comedy “The Gold Rush,” a United Artists Cor¬ poration release now playing at the . Theatre. See the little tramp, a disappointed prospector, amble into the dance-hall, seeking, searching for a little companion¬ ship—surrounded by the merry makers, but with never a sign of welcome from anyone. Then left alone while the crowd of lucky ones go on with the dance. Until, a smile from “the girl” seems to kindle a spark, and as he steps for¬ ward to the greeting—finds that it is for someone else. This, and many other little touches of life’s ironies is what makes “The Gold Rush” the great picture it has been ac¬ claimed by press and public. FILM CHILKOOT PASS WITHOUT ACCIDENT Big Scene in Chaplin’s Comedy, “The Gold Rush,” a Most Difficult One During the making of Charlie Chap¬ lin’s great comedy-drama “The Gold Rush,” coming to the .The¬ atre, in a scene where 2500 men were employed as “sourdoughs” for the cross¬ ing of “Chilkoot Pass,” the most dis¬ appointed man in the whole outfit was the company physician. Not a man was hurt in the entire filming of this scene. This is remark¬ able from the fact that these men, un¬ trained to “mushing” through deep snows and climbing over frozen ledges were compelled to take many chances, and carrying packs on their back—haul¬ ing sleighs and other equipment over steep, precipitous places. It is mirac¬ ulous that this successful scene was not marred by accident. On the last day and the close of the scene, one of the “sourdoughs” in some way got a slight cut on the side of the head. Then the doctor was happy. With great enthusiasm he started wind¬ ing bandages around this poor “un¬ fortunate’s” head—and when he got through, he had used up enough band¬ ages to make a turban for a desert sheik, and the “sourdough” looked like he had been hit by a bomb. PICTURE SCENES SHOT 9,850 FEET UP Chilkoot Pass Filmed for Charlie Chaplin’s Comedy “The Gold Rush” What has been pronounced by ex¬ perts as one of the most extraordinary panoramas ever filmed is the spectacle of the famed Chilkoot Pass, gateway to the Klondike gold fields, in “The Gold Rush,” Charlie Chaplin’s most pretentious comedy-drama which is be¬ ing presented at the .The¬ atre under a United Artists Corpora¬ tion release. The awe-inspiring reproduction of the pass was made at an elevation of 9,850 feet, near the summit of the high Sierras and cost Chaplin more than $50,000 to film. The locale was near the crest of Mt. Lincoln, far above timber line, on granite ledges where glisten eternal snows. Professional ski jumpers were hired to cut a pathway 2300 feet long through the deeply banked snow, the ascent rising to a height of 1,000 feet above a narrow basin, known as “The Sugar Bowl,” where rude camps of the pros¬ pectors were constructed. To reach the locale, a trail had to be broken nine miles from the railroad through an immense fir forest to pro¬ vide a roadway for the vast amount of material used in filming the majestic scene. The mining camp constructed and the pass opened, Chaplin called upon the Southern Pacific railroad to round up 2,500 men to portray the gold seek¬ er’s rush for the Klondike. Bearing their packs on their packs, a huge gathering of human derelicts was as¬ sembled, representing beggary on a holiday. The prospect of appearing in a pic¬ ture with Chaplin, the most famed of vagabonds, brought rovers from far and wide, and they realistically fought their way through the snow as if gold itself was to be their reward rather than a mere day’s pay. Chaplin himself directed the scene giving instructions and personally leading the men as is his custom in all his productions. The frigid tempera¬ tures and the laborious ascent in the thin atmosphere of high altitude made the picture climb up the precipitous mountainside a marvel in scenic pro¬ ductions. IN ALL CHAPLIN PICTURES Henry Bergman who plays the part of Hank Curtis in Charlie Chaplin’s comedy, “The Gold Rush,” now playing at the . theatre, holds the unique record of having appeared in every Chap¬ lin comedy for the past ten years. Bergman is one of the best known figures amongst the Hollywood Boule- vardiers, and to his friends is known as “Charlie Chanlin’s Cast,” due to the fact that he usually plays one or more parts, having appeared in “Shoulder Arms,” in four different characters. In “A Woman of Paris,” he was reduced to only one part, that of the head waiter, and also in “The Gold Rush,” he is identified only as Hank Curtis. But that part will well be remembered for the merriment it causes—and the laughs that ensue.