Maps of Movies
The Gold Rush (1925)
Where The Gold Rush says it takes place, and where it was really shot.
The pass in the opening is Chilkoot in Alaska, but the snow is in California and almost everything else was built on a Hollywood lot.
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Scenes and places
The line of prospectors on Chilkoot Pass (1925)
A long line of men struggles up a snowy pass toward the gold fields, and the Lone Prospector heads off on his own into the white. It sets the hardship the whole film plays against.
Set in Chilkoot Pass — The mountain pass that gold-seekers had to cross to reach the Klondike, shown at the start of the film. Google Maps · Apple Maps
The pass on the Alaska-Canada border that stampeders had to climb, carrying a ton of supplies each, on the way to the Klondike.
Filmed at Truckee, California (Sierra Nevada snow) (Sierra Nevada, California, Truckee, United States) — The only scene kept from the Truckee trip is the opening: a long line of extras climbing a snowy pass. The exact spot near Truckee is not given, so the pin is the town centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: Truckee is a town in the Sierra Nevada, about 3 hours' drive from San Francisco; the actual filming spot is not documented.
Big Jim's mountain of gold (1925)
In the middle of a blizzard Big Jim strikes an enormous gold deposit and cries out that he has found a mountain of gold. The storm that follows will trap everyone nearby.
Set in Big Jim's gold claim — A claim somewhere in the Alaskan mountains; the film never names the spot.
A snow-covered mountain claim in the Klondike gold country; no real location is named in the film.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says the film apart from the opening was shot on the back lot and stages of Chaplin's Hollywood studio; which scene was shot on which stage is not given, so this is the studio as a whole. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
Black Larsen's cabin (1925)
Lost in the storm, the Lone Prospector stumbles into Larsen's cabin and Larsen tries to throw him out. Big Jim arrives too, and the three agree to stay together for the storm.
Set in Black Larsen's cabin — A lone cabin in the blizzard, home of the wanted criminal Black Larsen; the film gives no real place.
A one-room snowbound cabin of the kind built along the Klondike trails.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says the film apart from the opening was shot on the back lot and stages of Chaplin's Hollywood studio; which scene was shot on which stage is not given, so this is the studio as a whole. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
Drawing lots in the cabin (1925)
With the storm lasting days, food runs out and the three cut cards to see who must go out for supplies. The two left behind grow desperate enough to cook a shoe.
Set in Inside the cabin — The same snowbound cabin, as food runs out.
A bare log-cabin interior with a table and bunks, the usual shelter of a Klondike prospector.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says the film apart from the opening was shot on the back lot and stages of Chaplin's Hollywood studio; which scene was shot on which stage is not given, so this is the studio as a whole. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
The boom town (1925)
The Prospector walks on to the next gold boom town, a street of saloons and gamblers, while Big Jim goes back to his claim.
Set in The gold-rush town — An unnamed boom town of saloons and a dance hall; the film does not name it.
A Klondike gold-rush boom town; the film names none.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says elaborate Klondike sets were built at Chaplin's Hollywood studio for the rest of the film; this town is shot there as a whole, not at a documented stage. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
The dance hall (1925)
To snub a pushy man named Jack, Georgia picks the shabbiest man in the room to dance with, and the Prospector falls for her on the spot.
Set in The dance hall — The town's dance hall, where Georgia works in the evenings.
A Klondike dance hall like the Palace Grand in Dawson City, a theatre of the gold-rush era.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says the film apart from the opening was shot on the back lot and stages of Chaplin's Hollywood studio; which scene was shot on which stage is not given, so this is the studio as a whole. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
The New Year's Eve dinner (1925)
Georgia and her friends say they will come to dinner on New Year's Eve, and the Prospector spends days earning money for it. On the night he lays out the table and waits, dreaming of dancing for her with bread rolls.
Set in The Prospector's cabin — The small cabin, borrowed from a mining engineer, where the Prospector sets a New Year's dinner table.
A small winter cabin of the kind found near Dawson City in the 1890s.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says the film apart from the opening was shot on the back lot and stages of Chaplin's Hollywood studio; which scene was shot on which stage is not given, so this is the studio as a whole. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
The cabin on the cliff edge (1925)
Big Jim drags the Prospector off to find the cabin that will lead him back to the gold. Overnight a second blizzard leaves the cabin tipping over a cliff, and in the morning the two try to get out.
Set in The cabin by the gold deposit — A cabin beside Big Jim's gold deposit, hit by a second blizzard and left half over a cliff.
A hillside log cabin of the Klondike type, built on a steep slope.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says the film apart from the opening was shot on the back lot and stages of Chaplin's Hollywood studio; which scene was shot on which stage is not given, so this is the studio as a whole. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
The ship's deck (1925)
The film's last location is the deck of a passenger ship.
Set in The ship's deck — A passenger ship deck, near the end of the film.
A passenger steamship deck of the kind that carried people to and from the north.
Filmed at Chaplin Studios, Hollywood (back lot and stages) (Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States) — Wikipedia says the film apart from the opening was shot on the back lot and stages of Chaplin's Hollywood studio; which scene was shot on which stage is not given, so this is the studio as a whole. Google Maps · Apple Maps
How to get there: The former Chaplin lot sits at the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood; it is a working studio lot today.
Characters
- The Lone Prospector — A lone gold prospector who is lost in a blizzard and falls in love with a dance-hall girl.
- Big Jim — A prospector who finds an enormous gold deposit and later loses his memory.
- Georgia — A dance-hall girl who is quick, proud and independent.
Questions answered on the map
- Where was the opening scene of The Gold Rush really filmed?
- Where was the blizzard cabin in The Gold Rush really filmed?