It is a moment of history that the Croisette lived. A century after its first screening in 1925, “The Gold Rush (The Gold Rush)” by Charlie Chaplin returned to the big screen in a restored version, presented in a global preview in the prestigious setting of the Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Festival. The exceptional projection was held in pre-opening, this Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 3 p.m., in the Debussy room.
A packed room for a centenary work
Made quite surprising for such an old film, available online for a long time, the room was archical. An audience of all ages, mixing enthusiasts and curious, had made an appointment to attend the rebirth of a monument to world cinema. Thierry Frémaux went on stage to present the session, surrounded by several distinguished guests: Gian Luca Farinelli, director of the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, Arnold Lozano, director of Roy Export SAS, as well as two descendants of Charlie Chaplin, a granddaughter and a grandson of the filmmaker.
Before the screening, Thierry Frémaux recalled the importance of this event and gave the floor to his guests.
The granddaughter praised the public with emotion, evoking the pride that her grandfather would have felt when he saw this film celebrated a hundred years later in Cannes. His brother, Charles Spencer Chaplin, recalled the extent of the production of The gold rush -The most important of his grandfather to date-by evoking the spectacular sets built at the time, become a real tourist attraction: mountains, tons of snow … In reality, tons of flour! He also expressed his emotion in front of a packed room gathered for this unique moment.
A meticulous and global restoration
Arnold Lozano also spoke: ” I have the great luck and the great honor of managing the films and archives of the Chaplin family, on behalf of the Chaplin family. Thank you for being there. Hundred years of The gold rusha hundred years of Charlot, and the Cannes festival gives us good visibility. We will be able to share Chaplin’s art with the greatest number. As Spencer said, Chaplin had built decorations in California, with salt and flour. But he had first started to turn in the mountains of Sierra Nevada, where it was far too cold. He finally chose to return to his studios to finish the film. With this 4K restoration, you will be able to make the difference between the real snow and the false. Thank you… and long live Charlot! ». Then he added: “Almost a year and a half of hard work were necessary to reach this restoration, which will be projected in nearly 70 countries from June 26, 2025, the exact date of the first screening of 1925. More than 500 rooms in the world will thus participate in this planetary tribute”.
A film always so current
Gian Luca Farinelli wanted to emphasize how relevant this film was today: ” It is a film that is 100 years old, but still speaks today. He talks about greed, the desire for money … It is also a film about the present. He had two lives: the first when it was released in 1925, and a second when in 1942 Chaplin went up a sound version, in which he cut, changed things, and even threw certain pieces of the film “. He continued by returning to the restoration process: ” In 1993, a first restoration of the 1925 version was attempted, but it was very complicated because Chaplin had made all the original copies disappear. There was no, neither in the United States, nor elsewhere in the world. So we conducted a meticulous investigation, by consulting many archives. We have found fragments here and there: in New York, London, Catalonia, and even thanks to a Japanese collector … That’s why we are here today. »»
Preserve and transmit masterpieces
Thierry Frémaux, meanwhile, asked the room how many spectators had already seen the film. To his surprise, many of them had never seen him. This observation speaks volumes about the gradual disappearance of these works however founding in collective memory. And that is precisely why sections like classics cannes exist. It is also the mission of cinematheques and festivals devoted to heritage: preserving and transmitting the films that shape our cinematographic heritage.
An emotional shock on the big screen
For my part, this projection was deeply moving. Of course, I knew the film, which I saw several times on television when I was a child. But see it again, on the big screen, in a restored version, upset me. I found the emotions of childhood there, while discovering, with my adult gaze, how relevant this film remains. He does not age, because he talks about humans: greed, love, friendship … timeless feelings.
A century later, human emotions have not changed. This film could be shot today, as it remains universal. Even the profession of journalist, always looking for the story that will sell, has already been depicted with acuity.
The emotion invaded the room from the first images. The public laughed, shudder, applauded several times during the projection. Burlesque humor, the precision of the comic rhythm, the beauty of the images and the emotion of the story operated immediately. Enthusiasm was not denied until the end.
Among the emblematic sequences, we found of course that of the shoe meal, but also that, which remained in all memories, of the “dance of the buns”: a comic scene of an astounding choreographic precision, often imitated, never equaled.
A pioneer work from its creation
When Chaplin begins the shooting of The Gold Rush In 1924, he was already a planetary star. He founded his own production company, United Artists, alongside Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Dw Griffith, in order to produce her films independently. He seeks to go beyond the pure burlesque to explore more ambitious tones, and The gold rush This is a perfect illustration.
Inspired by the real klondike gold rush, at the end of the 19th century, and by poignant photographs of migrants blocked in the snow, Chaplin imagines a story that is both comical and tragic, poetic and brutal. He runs in particularly demanding conditions, mixing studio scenes with spectacular exteriors reconstituted in Truckee, California. When it was released in 1925, the film is a critical and public triumph, and confirms Chaplin in its status as a full -fledged author.
1942: a sound version supervised by Chaplin
With the arrival of speaking cinema, Chaplin resists a long time before accepting the use of dialogues. In 1942, he decided to go back The gold rush For a outcome in theaters. He shorten the duration (from 96 to 72 minutes), composes new music and himself records the voiceover. This more fluid version will become the reference for decades, especially for television.
A long restoration course
From the 1980s, the Cineteca di Bologna, with the Chaplin Estate and other institutions, hired an immense restoration project for Chaplin films. The gold rush The subject of many attempts to reconstruct the original version of 1925. But as Chaplin had destroyed the deleted sequences, the task was particularly difficult.
The version presented this year in Cannes is the fruit of a patient inquiry and collaboration work between several cinematheques around the world. It gives the film its original duration (1h28), its editing, and its visual splendor found thanks to a 4K restoration of very high quality.
Presented by Roy Export SAS, with the support of MK2, the film benefited from a 4K restoration led by the fundazione cineteca di bologna within his laboratory The Immagine Ritrovata. This work was based on elements recreated by Photoplay Productions, as well as rare and precious materials provided by large institutions such as the National Archive BFI, Blackhawk Films, the Lobster Films, Bundesarchiv Das Collection, Filmoteca de Catalunya, George Eastman Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).
A centenary celebrated in majesty
To present The gold rush In Cannes, a hundred years after its release, in a restored version, is much more than a tribute: it is a living celebration of what the cinema has more timeless. A reminder that the masterpieces, as old as they are, continue to speak to today’s hearts.
Neïla Driss
