Movie vignette: The Gold Rush

[ethnosax]

NRC Gold Rush 1 by ethnosax, on Flickr

The Gold Rush (1925)
"I thought you was a chicken [suit guy]"

approx. 300 pieces

The 1925 Chaplin classic has a special place in my heart because it is the first silent film I remember seeing, with live musical accompaniment on organ. It was the beginning of a lifelong love for the silent era.

The Gold Rush was Chaplin's favorite movie that he made, and he enjoyed it so much that in 1942 he re-edited it and added a soundtrack, which featured Chaplin himself narrating the story.


NRC Gold Rush 2 by ethnosax, on Flickr

Though Chaplin favored the 1942 version, I believe there are a lot of reasons to prefer the 1925 original. One of those reasons, superficial though it may seem, is the intertitle "I thought you was a chicken," which appears during the famous starvation-induced hallucination scene. Chaplin's prospecting companion sees Chaplin become a large chicken (Chaplin himself in a chicken suit). That has always stuck in my memory as one of the funniest intertitles to read during a silent film. Hearing Chaplin say "I thought you were a chicken" in the 1942 sound version is just not the same at all.

So here is my attempt at a Lego recreation of this great scene, thanks to the Chicken Suit Guy from the Lego Minifigure Series.


NRC Gold Rush 3 by ethnosax, on Flickr

[das_mikey]

That's great. I really appreciated the background story as I am not familiar with the film.

[alexb54]

Hahaha a lot of fun! I am so glad that you made a Chaplin film's scene into Lego. Is there any kind of Lego piece resembling a shoe/boot for Charlie to eat? That would be fun. This film and all other Chaplin works are very dear to my heart. Thanks Ethnosax!

[crewser]

Great job Ethnosax. That is from a silent movie I have yet to see, so the background information was good idea.

[Neo]

Have you thought of making a stop motion version of this movie segment in Lego?

[ethnosax]

Thanks, everyone! I really appreciate the kind comments.

Neo - that is a great idea to do a stop-motion video of this! I'll try to work on that with the kids before the setup is dismantled.

For everyone who is interested in seeing Chaplin films, I recommend the ongoing Criterion Collection series, with one Chaplin release each year - so far, Modern Times, The Gold Rush, The Great Dictator, and Monsieur Verdoux. And if you want to delve further into silent comedy genius, check out the Kino releases of Buster Keaton - especially Sherlock Jr., The General, Our Hospitality, and the early shorts. Fantastic stuff (and plenty of Lego vignette ideas, too!)!