Post 43 and Retroformat Silent Films, in cooperation with the Chaplin Office (which represents the Charles Chaplin family), will present a special, one-time-only 35mm screening of the original 1925 version of Charles Chaplin’s masterpiece The Gold Rush at the newly renovated Hollywood Legion Theater at Post 43 on January 18, 2020. The screening will be open to the public and will be introduced by world renowned independent filmmaker and Retroformat Silent Films board member Allison Anders, whose films include Gas Food Lodging, Mi Vida Loca and Grace of My Heart.
For this unique screening in LA’s newest and most prestigious venue, the Chaplin Office has waived their usual requirement that the film must be accompanied by their recorded score. Live piano accompaniment will be provided during the screening by Cliff Retallick, who is well known to Los Angeles audiences for improvising scores on-the-spot during silent films at venues like UCLA Film Archive, Retroformat Silent Films, and the American Cinematheque. This event will kick off a series of tributes by Retroformat Silent Films to the founders of United Artists, with subsequent screenings of films by Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith to take place at the historic Woman’s Club of Hollywood early in 2020.
The Gold Rush originally premiered in 1925, but in 1942, Chaplin recut and re-released the film, adding a score that he recorded and composed himself, and dubbing it the “official version.” In 1993, internationally renowned film restorationists, historians and documentarians Kevin Brownlow and David Gill restored the original 1925 version, and it is this version that will screen on January 18 in the beautiful Legion Theater.
“We are highly honored that the Chaplin Office has granted us rare permission to show this amazing and important film in its original release format with live accompaniment by our Musical Director, Cliff Retallick,” said Tom Barnes, founder of Retroformat Silent Films, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit devoted to silent film exhibition that is co-sponsoring the screening with the American Legion Post 43. “We are also thrilled to be working with the veterans of the American Legion to bring this event to their beautiful new theater.”
In The Gold Rush, Chaplin’s immortal Tramp is a lone prospector in the Alaskan Gold Rush, where he meets the beautiful dance hall girl Georgia Hale and becomes trapped in a snowbound cabin, hilariously boiling, carving and eating his own shoe in the famous dinner roll dance – one of the greatest scenes in movie history.
“The miracle of Chaplin is the miracle of cinema itself — for the first time in history, people of all races, ages, classes and ethnicities laughed at the same things and without words, and we owe each successive generation an introduction to Charlie,” says film director, screenwriter and Retroformat Silent Films board member Alexander Payne. “‘The Gold Rush’ is a great place to start, and this is a wonderful chance to see the movie projected. It’s a movie that sticks with you for the rest of your life.”
The Hollywood Legion Theater at Post 43 is located at 2035 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90068, just south of the Hollywood Bowl. The special screening will take place at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices will start at $25.00 for general admission, with discounted tickets for veterans at $15.00. A limited number of special VIP tickets will be available for $40.00, and will include free parking, one free drink from the Legion’s bar and a free walking tour of the historic American Legion Post 43, plus a special tour of the Legion Theatre projection booth after the film. Parking will be available in the Post’s lot for $10 per car (limited number of spaces). Free parking is available across the street in the lot adjacent to the Hollywood Heritage Museum.
For more information on Post 43, follow us on social media at @post43events or visit the website, post43events.com
