This greatest of silent comedies could be subtitled “Hunger” — not just for a decent meal, but for financial stability, for the love of a good woman and for a house that isn’t perched precariously on the edge of a cliff.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 31, 2025

The first comedy of epic proportions has reached the screen.

| Apr 19, 2019

Chaplin is the apotheosis of the world's despised and downtrodden, and also their hope; he heralds a revolution in anarchic beauty.

| Jul 29, 2013

I prophesied that Chaplin, with his finer comedy and his less spectacular farce, would not be able to hold his popularity against it. What has happened is precisely the reverse of what I predicted.

| Jan 23, 2013

The result is a sight for sore eyes, for old-style Chaplin fans and novitiates alike.

| Sep 14, 2012

Even with its (likely dictated) propaganda on behalf of the now-superfluous 1942 edition, this set restores a high watermark in cinematic comedy to nearly full glory.

| Jun 22, 2012

What's surprising when one takes a fresh look at The Gold Rush is how much else there is, too, not just in terms of set pieces.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 20, 2011

Eighty-five years young, "The Gold Rush" is still an effective tear-jerker.

Full Review | Oct 11, 2010

The blend of slapstick and pathos is seamless, although the cynicism of the final scene is still surprising. Chaplin's later films are quirkier and more personal, but this is quintessential Charlie, and unmissable.

| Jun 27, 2007

The Gold Rush is a distinct triumph for Charlie Chaplin from both the artistic and commercial standpoints, and is a picture certain to create a veritable riot at theatre box offices.

| Jun 27, 2007

Here is a comedy with streaks of poetry, pathos, tenderness, linked with brusqueness and boisterousness.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 25, 2006

City Lights might be Chaplin's most exquisite achievement, but he never made a funnier or more beloved film than his own personal favorite, Gold Rush.

| Original Score: A | Feb 11, 2006

Mercifully, it lacks the pretentious moralising of [Chaplin's] later work, and is far more professionally put together.

| Feb 9, 2006

It's easy to see why this has consistently entertained generations of audiences.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 31, 2003

The Gold Rush has been delighting audiences for almost 80 years -- it's one of the flat-out funniest films made in the silent era or any other.

Full Review | Jul 26, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 18, 2003

One of Chaplin's sweetest and most humble movies.

| Jan 1, 2000