Charles Chaplin & Mack Swain 1925 “The Gold Rush” Movie Publicity Still b/w

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Charles Chaplin & Mack Swain 1925 “The Gold Rush” Movie Publicity Still b/w:
$42.50

Vintage Analog Photography - a real collectable! Frame-able... Gift-able... Beautiful...

Charles Chaplin & Mack Swain

1925 “The Gold Rush”

Movie Publicity Still 8”x10” glossy

Black and white photographicprint on paper - not a digital reprint

Charles Chaplin Productions

Reprint for re-release circa 1960’s

Still code: n/a

Pencil inscriptions on reverse: The Gold Rush, d

Very clean with no printer\'s cropping marks. Small fold to upper left and lower right corners in margins. Semi-gloss textured finish. Appears to be from retouched negative or rephotographed from retouched print. The levels enhanced scan of the reverse reveals slight yellowing of edges, very small dents and light scuffs not otherwise visible. “Psycles of Eidolon” watermark added to the digital scan - it is not on the still. I acquired this still in 1998 from a private collector.

Image scan made with no levels adjustment. Will appear slightly less contrasty than actual print. Reverse side scans: first with no levels adjustment, second enhanced to reveal defects.

Item dimensions: 8 x 10 x 1/72 inches, 1 oz.

Shipping dimensions: 14” x 11” x 1” 14oz. Un-matted print ships in plastic sleeve sandwiched between a 12\"x9\" masonite board and foam fronted cardboard within reinforced protective mailer. (Same rate for 1 oz to 1 lb, so I went for maximum protection of the item.)

“The Gold Rush” The Lone Prospector (played by Chaplin), a valiant weakling, seeks fame and fortune among the sturdy men who marched across Chilkoot Pass during the Klondike Gold Rush. The Lone Prospector\'s inoffensive patience and his ill-chosen garb make him the target for the buffoonery of his comrades and the victim of the merciless rigors of the frozen North. After he is caught in a blizzard, the icy clutches of the storm have almost claimed him when he stumbles into the cabin of Black Larsen (played by Murray), a renegade. Larsen is thrusting him out the door, back into the arms of death, when Fate, which preserves the destinies of simple children, appears in the person of Big Jim McKay (played by Swain). Jim subdues the renegade, and he and the Lone Prospector occupy the cabin while their unwilling host is thrust forth to obtain food. Starvation almost claims the two until a bear intrudes and is killed to supply their larder. The storm abates, and the two depart for the nearest town. Jim heads for his hidden mine, the richest in Alaska. The Lone Prospector arrives in one of the boom towns of the gold trail. He becomes the principal amusement of the village, a victim of practical jokers, and the target of gibes and hilarity from the dance hall habitués. His attention becomes centered on Georgia (played by Hale), queen of the dance hall entertainers; he becomes enamored with the girl at first sight. Unceremoniously dragged from the hall by Jim, the Lone Prospector shouts to Georgia that he soon will return to claim her, as a millionaire. He and Jim return to the cabin, better-provisioned than before. Overnight, another blizzard blows the cabin all the way to Jim\'s claim and beyond— half over a cliff. In the morning, Jim and the Lone Prospector awake to a teeter-totter experience lasting many tense minutes, before the Lone Prospector is pulled from the cabin by Jim as it falls into a chasm. One year later, Jim and his partner, the Lone Prospector, are returning to the United States wealthy. The fame of the partners\' strike has spread, and newspapermen board the liner for interviews. The Lone Prospector consents to don his old clothes for a photograph. Tripping in the companionway, he falls down the stairs into the arms of Georgia, on her way back to the United States as a steerage passenger. – wikipedia

Charles Chaplin: (16April 1889 - 27December 1977) Charlie Chaplin, considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular \"Little Tramp\" character; the man with the toothbrush mustache, bowler hat, bamboo cane, and a funny walk. Charles Spencer Chaplin was born in Walworth, London, England on April 16th, 1889, to Hannah Harriet Pedlingham (Hill) and Charles Chaplin, both music hall performers. Charlie and his half-brother, Syd Chaplin spent their lives in and out of charity homes and workhouses between their mother\'s bouts of insanity. Chaplin began his official acting career at the age of eight, touring with The Eight Lancashire Lads. At 18 he began touring with Fred Karno\'s vaudeville troupe, joining them on the troupe\'s 1910 US tour. He traveled west to California in December 1913 and signed on with Keystone Studios\' popular comedy director Mack Sennett, who had seen Chaplin perform on stage in New York. In November 1914, he left Keystone and signed on at Essanay, where he made 15 films. In 1916, he signed on at Mutual and made 12 films. In June 1917, Chaplin signed up with First National Studios, after which he built Chaplin Studios. In 1919 he and Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D.W. Griffith formed United Artists (UA). Chaplin\'s life and career was full of scandal and controversy. His first big scandal was during World War I, during which time his loyalty to England, his home country, was questioned. He had never applied for US citizenship, but claimed that he was a \"paying visitor\" to the United States. Many British citizens called Chaplin a coward and a slacker. This and his other career eccentricities sparked suspicion with FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover and the House Un-American Activities Council (HUAC), who believed that he was injecting Communist propaganda into his films. Chaplin was married four times and had a total of 11 children. Chaplin was a quiet man who kept to himself a lot. He also had an \"un-millionaire\" way of living. Even after he had accumulated millions, he continued to live in shabby accommodations. Chaplin\'s other works included musical scores he composed for many of his films. Charlie Chaplin was considered one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of American cinema, whose movies were and still are popular throughout the world, and have even gained notoriety as time progresses. – Amy Smith on IMDb

Mack Swain was born in 1876 and soon became a talented vaudevillian. In 1913 he was hired by Mack Sennett and appeared in a few Mabel Normand pictures until a year later he became even bigger when \'Charlie Chaplin\' arrived at the Keystone Studio. Swain later created a character by the name of Ambrose whom he appeared with Mr. Walrus (Played by comic Chester Conklin) most memorably in \"Love Speed & Thrills\" (1915). After that his career began to go downward until Charlie Chaplin rescued it in 1921 and he later appeared in his masterpiece \"The Gold Rush\" (1925). After \"The Gold Rush\" he appeared in many Hollywood productions such as Lon Chaney\'s \"Mockery\" and \"The Last Warning\" (1929). In 1932 he appeared in the academy award nominee for best short \"Stout Hearts and Willing Hands\" which also co-starred former keystone actors such as Chester Conklin, Hank Mann, Harold Lloyd, Bobby Vernon, Ben Turpin and Owen Moore. He retired from then onwards and died in 1935. - Daniel Dopierala on IMDb

Stills of this type, a staged publicity shot representing a frame from a film were sent out with press kits aimed at newspapers and also with the display and advertising kits the cinemas received. Until recently, most movie houses would display three or four stills framed below each poster, right out front, under the marquis, or inside with the lobby-cards. This happens much less in the multiplex era. Stills from press kits often have printer’s crop marks in the margins or on the back.

About Movie stills:

The words contradict each other. It should refer specifically to an enlargement of a single frame from a movie, a still frame. However, studios also hired still photographers to photograph productions and pose actors for publicity shots. Most ‘Movie Stills” are actually staged publicity shots. In the early days, these were shot with large format cameras, 4x5” and very often 8x10” negatives for portraiture. If retouching was required an 11x14” or larger print was made, retouched, then re-photographed as an 8x10” negative from which the “stills” would be contact-printed photographically. Actors also circulated head shots, and photos were composited for promotional purposes. I include in this category all film industry and industry-related 8x10 glossies (and early matte finish) of freeze frames (the true movie/still), publicity stills, head-shots, production and continuity photos, press photos, paparazzi shots (don’t think I have any of those) Press Kits, contact sheets and negatives of any of the above, in original issue, distributor reprint, or those awful modern knock-offs which I avoid. Around 1980 plastic-backed photo paper became very popular, and took over the movie still market. By the mid 80’s the cheap plastic was pricing the paper off the market, and movie stills not offset printed were run on plastic photo paper. Most duplicate movie stills from that point on were done on plastic, and the knock-offs followed suit, as it was the cheapest route. Wikipedia even leaves out the actual still frame:

\"A film still (sometimes called a publicity still or a production still), is a photograph taken on or off the set of a movie or television program during production. The photos were taken by studio photographers for promotional purposes. Such stills consisted of posed portraits, used for public display or free fan handouts, which are sometimes autographed. They can also consist of posed or candid images taken on the set during production, and may include stars, crew members or directors at work. The main purpose of such publicity stills is to help studios advertise and promote their new films and stars. Studios therefore send those photos along with press kits and free passes to as many movie-related publications as possible so as to gain free publicity. Such photos were then used by newspapers and magazines, for example, to write stories about the stars or the films themselves. Hence, the studio gains free publicity for its films, while the publication gains free stories for its readers.\" - Wikipedia 2011

Note to buyer: When framing, do not dry-mount, or glue to backboard, as value will be diminished. Use archival tape mount or corner mounts.

No rights to reprint or redistribute the image is being implied or sold: copyright remains with the original rights holders.

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