The Gold Rush (BFI Film Classics) - Softcover

Solomon, Matthew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184457640X ISBN 13: 9781844576401

Publisher: British Film Institute, 2015

Synopsis

Matthew Solomon's study of Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925) provides an in-depth discussion of the film's production and reception history, placing it in the context of the turn-of-the-century Alaska Klondike gold rush, and analyses the film's narrative and formal features, particularly its references to music-hall performance styles and tropes.

About this title

About the Author

Matthew Solomon is Associate Professor of Screen Arts and Cultures at the University of Michigan, USA. He is the author of Disappearing Tricks: Silent Film, Houdini, and the New Magic of the Twentieth Century and editor of Fantastic Voyages of the Cinematic Imagination: Georges Méliès's Trip to the Moon.

From the Back Cover

One of the biggest hits of the silent era, The Gold Rush (1925) was famously described by Charlie Chaplin – the star, writer and director of the film – as 'the picture I want to be remembered by'. Enjoying popular and critical success not once but twice, the film was given a new lease of life with sound in 1942 after Chaplin added his own narration and music.

Matthew Solomon provides an in-depth discussion of the film's genesis within the Northern genre, its production and reception history, and its subsequent canonisation. Considering both unauthorised and authorised versions of the film, he places them in the context of the turn-of-the-century Alaska Klondike Gold Rush and analyses their narrative and formal features. In tracing the
stories of these multiple versions, Solomon shows how The Gold Rush problematises commonly accepted ideas about the singularity, authenticity and originality of an individual film.

Edition details

• Publisher: British Film Institute
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 184457640X
• ISBN 13: 9781844576401
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112