A Bloody Mess

criterioncorner:

THE GREATEST SCENE IN FILM HISTORY

Charlie Chaplin’s The Gold Rush is a great film and a joyous experience, but every viewing comes complete with an unavoidably crushing realization: the cinema (or art in its entirety?) peaked with the dancing rolls scene. our beloved medium was still in its infancy when Chaplin shot this bit in 1925, but here we are nearly 90 years later and it still appears as if this sequence will never be topped (and i say that with all the confidence of someone who has seen Rock of Ages). so… yeah, i know you’re all jacked up for The Master or Batman or whatever it is that suits your fancy, but until Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Leavens, i think you may have to *roll* back those expectations. 

p.s. apocryphal trivia: film audiences of the 20s enjoyed this scene so much that they would often demand that the projectionist replay it several times before continuing on with the rest of the reel.

The Criterion Collection edition of THE GOLD RUSH is out on 6/12/2012

(Source: film-dot-com)