Outfitted with a new score and title sequence, reedited sans several scenes involving the woman, and rereleased in 1972, Charlie Chaplin’s first feature length film The Kid has finally made its way to home video in HD thanks to the Cineteca di Bologna’s gloriously meticulous restoration and 4k digital transfer. Originally released back in 1921 after about a half decade of acting and eventually directing wildly popular shorts for Keystone Studios, the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company and finally the Mutual Film Corporation, the film endured a year long production amidst personal and professional crisis. It was thought that Chaplin’s signature brand of comedic slapstick, which typically ran just two reels of film, could not support the length of a six reel feature, but as is evidenced within, the film perfectly fuses Chaplin’s penchant for melodrama with his masterful vaudevillian humor to create an astonishingly emotional comedy that plumbs...
- 2/16/2016
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
“Tramps And Orphans”
By Raymond Benson
The Criterion Collection continues its excellent re-issuing of Charles Chaplin’s major works with The Kid, the first full-length feature from the filmmaker. Released in 1921, Chaplin expanded on the two and three reelers he had been making (a “reel” at that time was approximately 10-15 minutes long) to the six-reels of The Kid (the original cut was just over an hour; Chaplin re-edited it in the early 70s to create the now standard 53-minute version). It’s still a short film, but longer than what were considered “shorts.”
The Kid received high acclaim on its release and was one of the writer/actor/director’s most popular pictures. This was in part due to the presence of young Jackie Coogan in the titular role. Coogan, who grew up to play Uncle Fester in The Addams Family television series of the 1960s, steals the movie...
By Raymond Benson
The Criterion Collection continues its excellent re-issuing of Charles Chaplin’s major works with The Kid, the first full-length feature from the filmmaker. Released in 1921, Chaplin expanded on the two and three reelers he had been making (a “reel” at that time was approximately 10-15 minutes long) to the six-reels of The Kid (the original cut was just over an hour; Chaplin re-edited it in the early 70s to create the now standard 53-minute version). It’s still a short film, but longer than what were considered “shorts.”
The Kid received high acclaim on its release and was one of the writer/actor/director’s most popular pictures. This was in part due to the presence of young Jackie Coogan in the titular role. Coogan, who grew up to play Uncle Fester in The Addams Family television series of the 1960s, steals the movie...
- 2/1/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
What does it mean that Charlie Chaplin wanted to be remembered by The Gold Rush?
I'll simply say that the silent version, abandoned and later "destroyed" by its creator—thank heavens Chaplin failed in the attempt—possesses a stark Beckett-like quality that does not date, though it does open doors to my own past. Looking back on childhood frights, I realize how many of them were symbolized by a key figure and his antics. Eminently sane, the Little Tramp nonetheless evokes madness when he takes his famous turn on one foot at the edge of a bottomless abyss in the man-eating Yukon. It's the kind of madness that little kids register in their gut and it's implied by every jot and tittle of The Gold Rush—the comedy, the romance, the history...even the production itself.
The entire film is founded in a stereo-optical image discovered by Chaplin.
What does it mean that Charlie Chaplin wanted to be remembered by The Gold Rush?
I'll simply say that the silent version, abandoned and later "destroyed" by its creator—thank heavens Chaplin failed in the attempt—possesses a stark Beckett-like quality that does not date, though it does open doors to my own past. Looking back on childhood frights, I realize how many of them were symbolized by a key figure and his antics. Eminently sane, the Little Tramp nonetheless evokes madness when he takes his famous turn on one foot at the edge of a bottomless abyss in the man-eating Yukon. It's the kind of madness that little kids register in their gut and it's implied by every jot and tittle of The Gold Rush—the comedy, the romance, the history...even the production itself.
The entire film is founded in a stereo-optical image discovered by Chaplin.
- 9/25/2012
- MUBI
Chicago – There are certain filmmakers who just seem to make perfect fits for The Criterion Collection. Wes Anderson’s films have been given stellar editions. David Fincher. Akira Kurosawa. And, of course, Charlie Chaplin. The Criterion editions of “Modern Times” and “The Great Dictator” are two of my personal faves and a third Chaplin classic entered the collection this month when the company inducted “The Gold Rush,” one of the most popular silent films of all time.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
There was a time where Charlie Chaplin was arguably the biggest celebrity in the entire world. And he was possibly at the peak of his fame when 1925’s “The Gold Rush” hit theaters and became one of the most beloved films of all time. Not only did it make millions worldwide but Chaplin himself considered the film to be his masterpiece. He loved it so much that he went back to it in 1942 and added narration,...
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
There was a time where Charlie Chaplin was arguably the biggest celebrity in the entire world. And he was possibly at the peak of his fame when 1925’s “The Gold Rush” hit theaters and became one of the most beloved films of all time. Not only did it make millions worldwide but Chaplin himself considered the film to be his masterpiece. He loved it so much that he went back to it in 1942 and added narration,...
- 6/19/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 12, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
The classic 1925 film The Gold Rush—the first feature-length comedy by Charlie Chaplin (Modern Times)—forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character.
Charting a hapless prospector’s (Chaplin) search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale), The Gold Rush was shot partly on location in the Sierra Nevadas and featured such timeless gags as Chaplin’s dance of the dinner rolls and a meal of boiled shoe leather. And, damn, it’s all still hilarious.
This Criterion special edition features both Chaplin’s definitive 1942 version, for which the director added new music and narration, and a new restoration of the original silent 1925 film.
The Blu-ray and two-disc DVD contain the following features:
• New high-definition digital restoration of the 1942 sound version, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
The classic 1925 film The Gold Rush—the first feature-length comedy by Charlie Chaplin (Modern Times)—forever cemented the iconic status of Chaplin and his Little Tramp character.
Charting a hapless prospector’s (Chaplin) search for fortune in the Klondike and his discovery of romance (with the beautiful Georgia Hale), The Gold Rush was shot partly on location in the Sierra Nevadas and featured such timeless gags as Chaplin’s dance of the dinner rolls and a meal of boiled shoe leather. And, damn, it’s all still hilarious.
This Criterion special edition features both Chaplin’s definitive 1942 version, for which the director added new music and narration, and a new restoration of the original silent 1925 film.
The Blu-ray and two-disc DVD contain the following features:
• New high-definition digital restoration of the 1942 sound version, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray...
- 3/30/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
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