Silent Era Home Page > DVD > The Gold Rush DVD Review
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Reviews of silent film releases on DVD home video.
Copyright © 1999-2009 by Carl Bennett. All Rights Reserved.
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The Gold Rush
(1925)
on
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Among the most beloved of Charles Chaplin’s films is this tale of the Little Tramp as a gold prospector in the frozen Yukon.
Thanks partially to the film’s temporary status as a public-domain film in the USA, collectors could easily obtain home video editions of the film during the 1980s and 1990s (although usually in substandard editions prepared from 16mm reduction prints), and the film became popular and recognizable among comedy fans even marginally aware of Chaplin’s work. — Carl Bennett
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 2003 Warner Home Video edition
The Gold Rush (1925), black & white, 96 minutes, not rated,
with The Gold Rush (1925) [1942 rerelease version], black & white, 69 minutes, not rated.
Warner Home Video, 37945,
UPC 0-85393-79452-1, ISBN 0-7907-8065-8.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD disc and one single-sided, dual-layered DVD disc, Region 1, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo and mono sound, English language intertitles, foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, cardboard wrap case with plastic tray in cardboard slipcase, $29.95.
DVD release date: 1 July 2003.
Country of origin: USA
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 This new Warner Brothers and MK2 Éditions edition represents the best available home video edition of Chaplin’s film The Gold Rush on DVD. The 1942 rerelease version of the film, prepared by Chaplin (which excised the intertitles, added sound narration and music by Chaplin, and altered the ending), has been digitally restored for this set.
Our first glimpse of this two-disc set is favorable in regards to the 1942 version of The Gold Rush, with its nearly pristene picture. But we are indifferent to the reconstruction of the 1925 version, produced years ago by Photoplay Productions in the UK, which doesn’t look much better than quality home video editions on lasersdisc and VHS videotape. The 1925 restoration has the moderately good qualities of previous editions, those being a slightly constrasty and soft picture that looks as though it has been transferred from 35mm duplicate prints that are two or more generations away from the original negative.
The 1942 rerelease edition fares quite a bit better, having been digitally restored from original 35mm elements held by the Chaplin family — materials that were previously utilized by David Shepard for the CBS/Fox laserdisc and DVD edition noted below.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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 2000 CBS/Fox Home Video edition
The Gold Rush (1925) [1942 rerelease version], black & white, 71 minutes, not rated.
CBS/Fox Home Video, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID9179CUDVD, UPC 0-14381-91792-5.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD disc, Region 1, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, snapper case, $29.99.
DVD release date: 16 May 2000.
Country of origin: USA
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We have not seen this DVD. We have seen the program material in its laserdisc edition.
This out-of-print edition of The Gold Rush was transferred from materials previously held by Charles Chaplin; the sound reissue version originally rereleased in 1942. All intertitles were removed and replaced with spoken narration by Chaplin. Some collectors have objected to Chaplin’s altered version of the film, especially its truncated ending and running time. We say that there are editions of both the original 1925 release and this 1942 reissue to be seen and collected on home video. Criterion/Voyager released a very good edition of the 1925 version on laserdisc in 1991.
This edition of the sound reissue version, which has its own charms (Chaplin’s narration) and qualities (a fine video transfer, with open framing), includes a supplementary section with an interview with Chaplin’s wife Lita Grey Chaplin, an original scenario by Chaplin entitled “The Lucky Strike: A Play in Two Scenes,” basis for The Gold Rush.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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 2000 Koch Vision edition
The Gold Rush (1925), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Koch Vision, KOC-DV-6302, UPC 7-41952-63029-6.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, three single-sided, single-layered DVD discs, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, keep cases in cardboard slipcase, $19.98.
DVD release date: 19 December 2000.
Country of origin: USA
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We have not seen this DVD. The Gold Rush was included in this budget-priced multidisc set. We have no indication as to the quality of this edition of the film, and cannot recommend it at this time.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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 200? Front Row Entertainment edition
The Gold Rush (1925), black & white, ? minutes, not rated,
with The Immigrant (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Front Row Entertainment, unknown catalog number, UPC 0-82554-37202-4.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD disc, Region 1, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound?, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, keep case, unknown suggested retail price.
DVD release date: 200?.
Country of origin: USA
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We have not seen this DVD. This budget edition will show up on eBay and in grocery stores, so be wary of its likely low-quality that would be consistent with other releases by this company.
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 200? unknown video company edition
The Gold Rush (1925), black & white, ? minutes, not rated,
with Tillie’s Punctured Romance (1914), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Immigrant (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated, and A Burlesque on Carmen (1916), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Unknown video company, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, two single-sided, single-layered DVD discs, Region 1, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, keep case, unknown suggested retail price.
DVD release date: 200?.
Country of origin: USA?
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| Where do these budget discs come from? This budget edition of two features and two short Chaplin films could source from the same company as the Front Row edition above. Don’t count on the quality of the film prints being very high. |
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 1998 Digital Disc Entertainment edition
The Gold Rush (1925), black & white, 90 minutes, not rated.
Digital Disc Entertainment, DDE 010, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered VideoCD disc, no region encoding, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound?, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, keep case, unknown suggested retail price.
DVD release date: 1998.
Country of origin: USA
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| We have not seen this disc. This early edition of The Gold Rush was previously identified by us as DVD, but it is in reality a VideoCD disc — playable on most DVD players. It is also likely to be the worst production of all editions. We suspect that this low-budget production was transferred from a 16mm reduction print. |
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Other silent era CHARLES CHAPLIN films available on DVD home video.
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| Charles Chaplin filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List |
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