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Title: At last, the REAL Gold Rush is on DVD
Review: The real news here isn't the second video release of Chaplin's 1942 talkie reissue of the 1925 film, with narration in his plummy later voice detracting from much of the fun. What's significant here is on Disc 2-- the first video release of a definitive version of the original silent classic, which has been restored by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill from Chaplin family material and is about 14 minutes longer and noticeably better quality than the best previous version, the Killiam print which had seen assorted releases on tape and laserdisc. The Chaplin family had previously refused to release that version, believing that the 1942 version represented Chaplin's final thoughts on the film, when what it in fact represented was Chaplin's best idea of how to make an old silent film seem relevant to Casablanca-era audiences. Now it's the '42 version which seems old fashioned, while the '25 one is timeless as ever. Be sure you get this new Warner/MK2 version.
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