The Gold Rush 1925

Characters/Players:

Big Jim McKay
Girl--Georgia (Hale)
Black Larsen
Jack Cameron
Henry Curtis
A Lone Prospector--Charlie Chaplin

Director: Charlie Chaplin

Plot Summary:

It is 1898 and the middle of the Great Alaskan Gold Rush. Many perish
in the cold and rigorous North. . .

Charlie Chaplin, a lone prospector, is caught in a storm. Although unwelcome, he and Big Jim McKay take shelter in the cabin of Black Larson. When the three men run out of food and begin to starve, they cut a deck of cards to see who should go out to get supplies and food. Black Larson draws the lowest card, and so he must go. On his way to the town, Black Larson meets and kills two policemen, so he hurries on, and doesn't return to help the other two. In the meantime, Big Jim McKay goes nearly goes crazy: he is so hungry he imagines Chaplin is a chicken. Fortunately, before Chaplin is shot and served, a bear happens by. A gunshot and a solid meal later, the two men part. Big Jim goes back to his secret gold mine, only to find Black Larson trying to "jump his claim." The two men fight, and Big Jim is knocked down. Black Larson runs off, thinking Big Jim is dead. But Nature exacts her own justice: Larson is caught and killed in a snowslide.

In the meantime Chaplin has come to a goldrush town and met the dance hall girl, Georgia. "If only I could meet someone worthwhile," she sighs, only inches away from the enraptured Chaplin. "I'm so tired of this place!" Georgia is a flirt, and because she is angry with her crude boyfriend Jack Cameron, she dances with Chaplin. He falls in love, and finds a picture of hers that has dropped to the floor. By a little clever maneuvering, he obtains a cabin for a few weeks, and he keeps Georgia's picture under his pillow. Georgia and her friends happen by the cabin while they are outside playing in the snow. Chaplin invites all of them in, and they laughingly say he should invite them all again for dinner. They tell him they will come on New Year's Eve. Chaplin shovels snow to get the money to buy a few presents and a good meal for the girls, but they never come. Dejectedly he wanders over to the dance hall at midnight, just as they decide to visit him and tease him. While he is out, Georgia and her friends come in. She sees that he has really worked hard to do something nice for her, but she has been callous and thoughtless.

The next day Georgia sends him a note. "I'm sorry for what I did last night. Please forgive me. I love you. Georgia." At the same time, Big Jim wanders into town. He has lost his memory from the blow Black Larson gave him. He thinks if he can find the cabin where the three men were stranded, he can find his secret mine. Chaplin is the only one who knows where the cabin is, so Chaplin becomes a business partner, and after a few difficulties, a rich man. On the boat home, a multi-millionaire, Chaplin sees Georgia again. Because he temporarily dons his old mining clothes for a picture, Georgia mistakes him for a tramp-stowaway, and generously offers to pay his fare to protect him from the police. But to her surprise and chagrin, Chaplin is now a wealthy man. The film ends on a happy note. . .