For a few years now the Regina Symphony Orchestra has dedicated one Pops Concert a year to a screening of a classic silent movie that the orchestra performs the “soundtrack” to in the style of an old-school movie house.
This year’s version goes on Nov. 2, and the movie that is being screened is the Charlie Chaplin comedy The Gold Rush. Set in the 1890s during the legendary Klondike Gold Rush, the movie features Chaplin in his famous persona of The Tramp. Like many miners who headed north during the rush with the aim of striking it rich, he ends up suffering all sorts of misadventures, including encounters with a prospector named Big Jim, an escaped con named Black Larsen, and a beautiful saloon girl named Georgia.
The Gold Rush proved to be hugely popular with movie-goers, becoming the fifth highest grossing film of the silent era. Even today it’s recognized as one of the top Hollywood films of all time so the RSO screening should be plenty of fun. It goes at Conexus Arts Centre on Saturday at 8 p.m. To give you a taste of what to expect, here’s a short excerpt from The Gold Rush:
