The Gold Rush / Tamdhu 10 Single Malt Scotch

0:00 So, here's the deal everybody. We just absolutely love producing as much content as possible for film and whiskey Nation. But if our regular episodes aren't enough for you, then you can head on over to patreon.com film whiskey sign up for one of our memberships and you will get a slew of extra content for your listening. Pleasure, check us out on patreon.com film, whiskey in 1925 director and star. Charlie Chaplin gave the world, a rags-to-riches. Riches tale that takes the Tramp up to the great white North, in 2023, we strike gold in the speyside region of Scotland. The film is the Gold Rush.

0:41 The whiskey is Tam do 10 more review them both, this is the film and whiskey podcast. Welcome to the film and whiskey podcast, where each week, we review a classic movie and a glass of whiskey. I'm Bob book, I'm Brad G and this week we keep the Charlie Chaplin train a-rollin with his 1925 comedy. The gold rush.

1:24 Brad. I I already know that most of our audience will not have seen any of these movies. And yet, I'm still pretty sure that you know, if you were to hold up pictures of the stars of every movie we've ever done on the film and whiskey podcast, that Chaplin would still be one of the most recognized figures among all of them easily like I'm kind of struggling with like I really want her stash you know? I mean Hitler kind of patterned it after him which is a weird distinction to have You know, a weird badge to wear if you're Charlie Chaplin but you know what? I inspired. Yeah, we'll get to that next week when we look at The Great Dictator, but for this week, I guess, what?

2:04 I'm trying to say here is this, this is one of the most popular movies ever made. It is the highest grossing silent film comedy ever. And it is probably the one that has the most iconic, Charlie Chaplin moments and imagery in it. Hmm. And yet it's probably like, in the Bottom-5 of movies we've ever done. In terms of one's people will have seen that. Listen to this show. Yeah, I mean, it's coming up on 100 years. Bob 100 years old, almost Brad. That like, it is crazy to me to look at this movie and look at how it's made and and see modern technique editing techniques and Camera moves and stuff like that. And when you think about something being 100 years old, you think of like this super archaic time that's gone by. And I think that's part of why I love movies so much. Is that it reminds us that a hundred years ago is really not that long ago at all.

2:57 People have always been people and movies in some ways. I've always been movies and Chaplin films are evidence of that. Yeah. And I will say, this is a quick shout out to our listeners from Canada. I think that this is our first movie set in Canada. Yeah. Now, are we at Canada? Are we in Alaska in this movie? I'm pretty sure it is set because the the chilkoot pass, hmm, which it shows is in British Columbia, okay. So is it, she'll cut or chilkoot? Chilkoot. I think it's real good. There's two o's. So obviously should pronounce it. You know, improperly sure until cut. She'll Cooter e. Okay, so Cooter eboard. All right man, I'm excited to talk about this movie. I guess the first place to start, even before we get into Brad explains is to compare and contrast. Last week's movie City Lights.

3:50 Now we started with that because that is kind of generally regarded today by critics as chaplains, best film and watching these two movies back to back Brad. The Gold Rush has never been my favorite Chaplin movie. I feel like even at, you know, whatever it is 85 minutes or whatever. There's a little bit of shag on it and some of the jokes go on a little too long for me and they take a large break in this movie from making any jokes. And I feel like the movie really drags in those parts, but I also weirdly feel like if you're just Just talking from a comedy standpoint. This movie definitely has higher highs than City Lights did. Hmm. I mean, I will say that the boxing scene and City Lights. I think might be the funniest individual chaplain sequence and I've seen thus far in my extensive to movie.

4:37 Watch of him. Yep. But yeah. I like the boxing seen a lot. I think that I like gold rush overall is the film much better. Hmm. but I think that's mostly because It just feels a little more, little more self-contained, and a little less scatterbrained. Like it's it to me, it's much more focused and driving forward. Then City Lights was interesting. Yeah, I feel like if I can sum up my thoughts and City Lights, I really love that movie and I feel like it's, you know, it's probably still among like my favorite films but it's like a nine and a half for me on every category.

5:20 Where is this movie? It's definitely got low. Lower lows for me than city lights, but it hits higher Heights with some of the comedy, and it's going for a different reaction. I think like there's dramatic moments, there's heart. Touch it like a heart-wrenching moments in this movie, but this is a straight-up comedy, whereas City Lights. I feel like really try to tow that line between comedy and drama. Yeah, 100%. And I think that this one works a little bit better than city lights. And that's not to say, I didn't like City Lights. I thought it was a great movie. I think that the gold rush just It just flows better. And there's so many Beautiful Moments in this film that, you know, you kind of get at the end of City Lights with that, that last moment of them falling in love and this one. I feel like there's a, there's a few moments throughout that feel really beautiful and poignant.

6:09 And so, even though this one is more of a comedy, I found its have more touching moments in it. Alright, Brad. Well, I think we've kind of teased the plot of this movie a little bit and you know, we're only at like the 6-minute Mark here, but let's jump in. Into America's favorite segments. Brad explains rats gonna give us the movie plots with only 60 seconds ticking on the clock. So let's go ahead and do you take with this little segment that we call Brad explains, right? Explains is the part of the podcast, where Brad breaks down the plot of the movie that he has just seen often for the first time. We know that this is Brad's first time seeing the gold rush. So Brad, you've got 60 seconds on the clock to explain in a spoiler riff. Fashion.

6:54 The plot of the gold rush and go. The Gold Rush is a film about our favorite star, the Tramp as he moves to Canada to be a prospector. He finds himself out in the middle of a massive storm trapped in a cabin with a man who is so hungry that he wants to eat, Chaplin thinking that he's a chicken. This man has found a wealth of gold but loses his way to it and an outlaw beats him in. The head and so he forgets about where his wealth is in the meantime. Charlie falls in love with a beautiful woman who dances at a local night club, dance hall, whatever you want to call Dad.

7:36 Yeah, that's all and is dragged about back out into the Wilderness to help the man, find his claim. They find the claim together, survive a falling house, become Millionaires, and chaplain gets the girl at the end of the day. The end, there's the Gold Rush. That's, that's kind of it. Yeah, I think I summarize not think so. All right, before we move into talking about the movie itself, I want to go back to the point. You made a bit ago, about the fact that this movie is now 98 years old. It's really weird to talk about 100 year old movie Brad. I mean, you know, we try to keep up with our classic films on this podcast, but even for that, this movie fuels old and say, I think 1939, we did that series of Of for is like Stagecoach Gone With the Wind Wizard of Oz and what was the other one, mr.

8:31 Smith Goes to Washington, mr. Smith Goes watches. So I believe those would be the oldest for movies. We've done. Am I correct? Yeah, you know, I'm trying to think there's probably one or two scattered in there somewhere, but that's about as far back as we've gone so far. Yeah, so yeah this is, you know, 14 years before it we're getting into Old territory. But yeah, so on that. A point in the year, 1942 Chaplin is coming off of his most recent film, The Great Dictator, which came out in 1940. It's his first sound film and it does pretty good business and chaplain still a respected figure. But we're now 17 years on from the release of this movie, his most famous movie and chaplain realizes that most people, even though it is within, you know, a couple decades.

9:16 Most people have never even seen a silent movie, like, kids, who have come up in this time. They don't remember seeing Silent films. And so what he does is he takes the Gold Rush, he takes all the intertitles out of it and he adds a narration to the whole movie. Like it's still a silent movie but he's narrating over it now. It's a really interesting experiment and if you get like the Criterion Collection Blu-ray, you can watch that version of it. And I actually think that that version of the film ends up getting nominated for a couple of Academy Awards because he adds a score to it and things like that. So it's funny when you go back and look at stats on the Gold Rush it's like oh is Nominated for Oscars. But the original version of this came out before the Oscars existed. So it's like yeah this movie has a weird history.

9:59 We watched the silent silent silent version of this movie with no narration on it Brad. Can I just can I just say something Bob? Oh please, I turned on my first Charlie. Chaplin movie City Lights a week ago. Hmm. And I didn't know what to expect mmm and like I know that might sound silly, but I've spent my whole life. Being silent films called silent films. And I just, I knew that, you know, there would be like an orchestra and each movie theater that would like play that, you know, a little ditty to the movie. But I didn't know if I would just be sitting there listening to nothing for all of city lights all of gold rush you know, in our other silent films. So I was pleasantly surprised to hear that. It is not a silent experience if you get on Your HBO Max account and pop on any of the Charlie Chaplin's that they have on their there is music attached to these film. Yes.

11:00 And I just want to clarify that because I being the complete Noob to silent era film. Did not know what to expect. No, that's I'll say I didn't want to watch these movies because I was like, man, if there is no sound and I'm just watching him, you know, pantomime across the screen. I don't think I'm going to enjoy it very much. No, that's a great point. Hey man, I think that's something that, you know, for someone like me, I just take it for granted now. So I'm really glad. You said that these are her not totally silent experiences. Even the version that I'm describing, which I just called silent silent. Silent is is not actually silent. There is an orchestral score in the background. There's, you know, little sound effects that are added in. So all that to say Brad, you watched a 98 year old movie. I did.

11:47 Did it feel 98 years old? Certain elements of it did. Okay. It still had that little bit of a sped-up, feel that old Cinema has Givens. Hmm. And I'm sure you can explain that with the frame rate and, and so on, but it has that feel. There's definitely a, I still got the Looney Tunes vibe from it. We're like the slapstick comedy that you see in Looney Tunes? You can like see the direct T' through line from chaplain to loot EMS. So for somebody who grew up on Looney Tunes, like I still could feel that age to it. Hmm.

12:28 But other than that man, like the acting in. This is incredible. The cinematography is Bonkers, good. Like I thought it was pretty solid and City Lights. I think it's incredible here. I texted you, Halfway through the film. And basically just said there's a shot in this movie that I think might be one of the most beautiful shots I've ever seen in a film. Yeah. And so funny because it's the same shot that I had written down to talk about. Yeah. And so it's stuff. Like that. That makes you go. Oh, at the end of the day, whether you have a camera from 1920, you know, 34 when he was filming this or a camera from 2023 2024, You still have to take pictures in an interesting manner for them to be good and Charlie. Chaplin could do that 98 years ago? Yeah, 100%.

13:22 All right man, let's dive into talking about the movie itself. This is a very simple story as all of Chaplin's movies are, but this one even more. So because I feel like in movies like city lights, and modern times, those movies end up becoming more of I don't know a comedy of errors, like there's compounding things that happen that take the Tramp to different places and then in modern times, I feel like it's more of, it's almost like an odyssey, it's like him going across, you know, this industrial landscape in the 1930s, this one's more just like hey we Jump Right In. There's a bunch of people prospecting for gold and Chaplin had to this point put the Tramp character back in historical periods.

14:03 A couple of times, but this is the first full-length film that he did that. At with, and not only that. But we're going back into like the 1800s with the Tramp here. And so he's not called the Tramp in this movie. He's called the lone prospector and so, you know, that he's out there by himself, he's just being hapless and stumbling into whatever he stumbles into and for the first, I don't know, third of the movie. It's basically just him trying to survive out in the elements and kind of getting mixed up with these two other Prospectors, one of whom is a wanted criminal and murderer. This is the middle third of the movie. Upland kind of goes into this, you know, Town that's been set up for the gold, miners and falls in love with the girl there.

14:44 And then the last third of the movie, he goes back out into the frontier and things kind of wrap up but I felt like this movie had a very clean division of like act 1 act 2 act 3. Yeah and I really enjoyed that about the film. You get him in his initial introduction to you know the Yukon wherever they're at. At up in Canada, maybe Alaska and then you have him in the city, trying to win Over Georgia and then you have him, finding his riches and finishing out the journey that he started upon to find gold and it cuts it up into such a nice little chunks. That for me, I was able to keep with the story throughout and it didn't feel like I was dragging on anywhere. Last week, we talked about the performances and city lights and kind of lead with the caveat that it's hard to talk about performances and yet, I don't know, like, I don't know how to explain it because this seems like the most pure distillation of a performance that we could talk about, like it's just it's acting without words, right?

15:54 And so we should be able to point to like really specific things in these performances. But it's also really hard because we've only ever paired up the, you know, physical. With the words that are being spoken and we talked about line readings and, you know, we don't have that luxury here. So I guess I want to hear your take first of all on Chaplin, and do you think he's better, worse? Kind of the same from city lights and are there? Any particular things about the way he plays the character in this movie that stuck out to you? I think something I noticed in this film and this is more about the character that he plays more than maybe himself. I love the way. Way.

16:35 He, you know, and this is famous of him. I love the way he keeps his feet open all the time. Yeah, yeah. And and Beyond the fact that it's comedic. There's so many moments in this film where he is stuck on the outside. Mmm, and he is looking in on other people enjoying life and he is, you know, being bullied by a larger more attractive more, masculine man than him. And For some reason, I just looked at his feet every single time and he has that trademark openness of his feet. Mmm. And there's something about that that I think makes the Tramp such a Winsome figure that he is open to whatever the world throws at him, that he takes it in.

17:26 He takes into sadness, he takes him to anger, the happiness, all the things that gets thrown at him and just continues marching on. His way never giving up, always taking every punch that's thrown at him. And then there's something about that that Nuance in his acting performance that I think just makes the Tramp and, you know, the lone prospector in this film that makes him so charming and attractive. And like like I just want to be friends with that guy and I know it's not, I don't know. Am I crazy to say that? Like I think you're all of that comes down to the way he carries his body? Yeah, I mean, you're absolutely right. There is a Posture of openness with him a physical posture of like, I want love the same way that everyone else has love that I see around me and I have no one to give it to me.

18:15 And I think there is such a heartbreak to that. And this movie, I think really leans in way more than City Lights. Did you know, in City Lights? He's down on his luck, and he's impoverished, and he goes to jail. And, you know, he is really the lowest of the low socially, but you never get the sense that he feels lonely. Like, he's pining for For and and really wants to be with the flower girl. But I don't think you ever really understand her experience, the kind of like social isolation of him and in this movie I think it's I mean they call him the loan prospector like that's that's the character's name and from there you really get this sense. I guess I want to just go ahead and talk about one of my favorite parts of the movie and it is when the film tips into, you know, melodrama there's this kind of contrived thing where the Dancehall girl finds That the Tramp likes her and sets up this whole thing where she's going to come dine with him at this cabin that he's overseeing on New Year's Eve, and bring all the dance hall girls.

19:14 And and then she like, very obviously stands him up. She doesn't forget. She's screwing with him and it's because she's involved with this guy who's just a giant. And I think his name is Jack. I don't know what his name is. He's the worst. And I think it's R. It's probably Richard probably Richard. He's just a bully. And you know, eventually she realizes that this guy is just Going too far with how he bullies the Tramp and Des Associates from him. But at this point she's standing him up the Tramp falls asleep, dreaming about all the ways. He's going to entertain these girls and you get this iconic sequence which we'll talk about in a minute, but he wakes up from this dream, right? At midnight as everybody down at the dance, hall is singing Auld Lang Syne and chaplain does This brilliant thing where bro Auld Lang Syne is perhaps never sadder than it is in this movie which I love Auld Lang Syne As a song because it allows you to reflect on, I don't know the the good and bad tapestry of life every year and you get to some most nostalgic song is so good and and you get this moment of like all these Haggard looking people in the Klondike or wherever we are like reflecting on what they've done in the last year and some of them are openly weeping and then the song ends and they immediately go back to like drunken revelry and as they're reflecting on life.

20:35 We're Cutting back to chaplain in the cabin with the door cracked open leaning out. Realizing that he's been abandoned yet again. And it's one of the few times in the movie where we get a legit close-up of Chaplin and his acting in that scene man. It is like, I legitimately teared up at that scene, Brad, it is heart-wrenching and the current one command that this guy Chaplin had on his editing and the way that he's able to tug at the heartstrings a hundred years ago. I'm like, I wish people would watch Listen take notes today. Yeah. Well and it feels like like honestly, the way that Georgia the dancer who's messing with him plays it, it feels like like, you're watching Mean Girls.

21:18 Hmm. Like the way she's like, kind of, you know, tittering with her friends and like laughing and they know that they're kind of playing a joke on this poor nerdy kid. If you will, it feels like a modern understanding of the interaction. Actions between boys and girls when they're not mature enough to really, you know, love and sacrifice and do all the things that are required of people when they're in love with one another. Mmm and I think that he does such a good job of characterizing that. But then also his ability to use sound design to manipulate emotions is incredible. The way the that all Lang Syne is played, when the camera is on, the dance hall is upbeat and Lively. And a fun version of it and then the camera cuts to Chaplin and it immediately gets quieter a little bit slower and you're like, you immediately feel mournful and it's because chaplain has this ability to contrast the large Lively raucous party.

22:23 That is the dance hall with the loneliness of a man who thought he had friends. And I just man that was just really really touching and that it's moments like that Bob like you. Said, we were like, this doesn't feel like a ninety, eight year, old movie, my heart. It feels like when I didn't have any friends or it feels like when I've struggled to, you know, how struggled with liking a girl? Who doesn't like me back? Yeah, like, like, all of that is just true to The Human Experience. Well and that's the thing. I want to get back to you were talking about how Winsome of a character he is. And I want to just add the word sympathetic to that, you know, it's a yeah, obviously, a common word to use but the reason that we Of the Tramp so much is that we empathize with him and his lowest moments and he's not a character like mr. Bean and I think that he loved mr. Bean.

23:15 You know what I mean? Those are like hilarious sketches, but Mr. Bean is like a Rube who comes in and messes stuff up and it's funny to watch a mess stuff up. And you know, early chaplain reels are like that. Like, it's just chaotic and it really funny to watch him pretend to be a barber and slather. Somebody and shaving again Three Stooges type. Exactly Actly. This character is not that he's not dumb and he's not ignorant, he's perhaps too trusting, but he always finds out what's going on and how he is the but of someone's joke, and he still chooses to keep that open posture to the world and to go on with his life. But sometimes you see him do it with a heavy sigh. And I think that's the key to the Tramp.

23:56 It's not that he's ignorant or dumb. It's just that he's too trusting and we love him because of that. Yeah. Yeah, well that's that's the beauty of any good drama, right? That it reveals something about ourselves, even as we watch the drama unfold on-screen or, you know, on the pages of a book. And that's what you have in, chaplain in this film. And in a lot of his films is somebody that you can see yourself in. And like, let's be honest. Bob, there's a lot of directors nowadays that can't direct a movie that I would see myself in. That's true. I want to ask this, you know, we're on the performances thing, but before we move off of it, I think we're in a good spot to ask this. How has watching Chaplin movies and particularly like getting to know, the character of the Tramp Brad. How has that changed your preconceptions of? What the Tramp was going to be?

24:52 Um, I think that I genuinely thought of the Tramp as a Three Stooges precursor. Mmm. And that, that was kind of it that he was a slapstick vaudvillian. In comedic force that people just really loved in the in the 20s and 30s and to spend time with him and modern times or sit in city lights and now, you know, he's called the lone prospector, but it's the trips the Tramp. Yeah, sure. Yeah. So, seeing him in now in the gold rush, You understand why he was so popular that that he really does relate to every person watching the movie?

25:34 Yeah, I mean it, you know, this movie comes out at the height of the Roaring 20s and I think that's reflected like in the costumes of the girls at the dance hall. Those don't seem period-accurate to me, but what do I know? I was to say there's a reason that chaplain is able to, I want to say to milk this character, but to keep this character alive in the format of a silent movie. All the way through to 1936 in modern times when everyone's making sound pictures at that point. And it's because this character like Taps into something about the struggles of everyday life and that in the middle of the Great Depression, people are still looking to the Tramp, not just for inspiration but also as a reflection and an empathy that someone out there understands what I'm going through and someone is going through the same thing as me and I think that's what makes this character. Actor, so lasting.

26:28 Yeah. No, I'm with you, 100%. I'm curious. If you have any thoughts on the other pieces of this all-star star-studded cast. I know that you are 100% familiar with them but you know, Max Swain as Big Jim McKay. Tom Murray is black Larson. Malcolm weight is Jack Cameron and Georgia. Hale is Georgia. You know these are big name actors here. Bob that everybody knows about sure. What did you think of their performance? You know, I thought it was great that they didn't try to overshadow, Charlie Chaplin. They were also much bigger than he was and they let him kind of Take the Lead, You know. Yeah, that's very kind of them. Honestly. I think the one that I want to talk about and they're all pretty great.

27:10 I think. Georgia. Hail does a good job. Her character is a lot more limited than Virginia channels character last week. Like, in terms of screen time, the one that stuck out to me was Max Wayne as Big Jim McKay. I thought he didn't just a fantastic job. I was reading an article or an essay today where they talk about how the film critic James Agee described Max. Wayne as a hairy mushroom, that was not how he said that that he looked in real life and I don't know if I've ever heard of meaner or a more accurate representation of what a person looks like. But yeah, that's another great thing about chaplain is that he always found interesting faces to work with like these guys look like they could have been out there prospecting.

27:55 And I think that adds a level of like, this is clearly like an overblown comedy, but the fact that everybody else kind of fits into the world at this movie is pretending to build. It allows the Tramp to come in there and it doesn't break the world apart. He's just inserted into a very believable situation. Yeah. I mean, honestly I really loved the guy who played Black Larson. Hmm. I think that he reminded me of is it Walter Huston In. Oh yeah. Oh good. Yeah, the prospector from Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Like they just have such a similar Vibe of their look, obviously not of their characters, but like they just look like they belong, prospecting for gold and period. And so, yeah, I think that that chaplain finds fascinating actors to do the things that he needs them to do which is like you said that like they are Accents on the performance. That is Charlie Chaplin.

28:59 And I think that they, that in this movie, especially I love Max Wayne. And his, the way he, Gesticulates constantly and the way he uses his body to interact with Charlie Chaplin. Like he knows he's a lot bigger than him. And there's a lot of Comedy that can come from that and it's an incredible performance because of that Tom Murray playing Black Larson, the criminal is menacing and and slightly terrifying. And and it's it works for for how small Charlie is and the style of character that he's trying to play. I just I loved everybody in this. Movie, man.

29:40 You know, I want to just talk real quickly about the black Larson character because he's only in, like the first 20 minutes of the movie, it's like the first person that chaplain stumbles upon a cabin. This guy black Larson is inside the cabin. He is a wanted murderer on the lam and chaplain walks in and creates havoc. And then this guy, big Jim McKay also find shelter there in the three of them are kind of cooped up in this cabin for a while. When the camera goes off with black Larson on his own, I was really impressed at. I don't want to call it like the Action choreography. But those were very impressive scenes like he's getting. He stumbles upon to, you know, Marshalls that are looking for him. He shoots one, he beats one with a shovel.

30:22 Like it's, it's like intense action sequences leading to Larson. Stumbling upon Big Jim McKay has big find of gold and trying to flee with it. And then this really impressive sequence of like a cliff like a an ice sheet breaking off of a cliff and him falling to his death. And you can kind of tell that there's there's early not green screening but that they've inserted, you know, in the camera, like a person into a backdrop. Right? Yep. And I'm looking at that going like okay? Yeah, like I can tell what's going on here but this is 100 years old dude. Like it's, it's crazy. How well this holds up, dude, I have with you. I thought that as I was watching that shot I'm like, you can tell it's fake.

31:09 But it's pretty damn good man. I couldn't lie. Could I do better in 2023? Absolutely. Not like I can't know shop, a still image like this is It's really impressive. Yeah. No, it really is. And like you said, the, the, the fight choreography in. This is honestly really good to the point where I'm just kind of like, you know, I feel like Tom Murray might have been a real criminal. Yeah, I'm just, he was just like, hey, just go beat these two people in and, and we'll call it a day and he really knew what he was. All right, man. I think we're at a good place to stop. Let's press pause here. Let's take a return trip to Scotland and try this Tam. Do what do you say dude? I never thought you would say that I love going to Scotland.

31:57 Alright so today we are checking out. Tam do ten year. This is a single malt scotch whiskey from the space side region, Brad. Let's let's go back a little bit. Let's give a refresher on Scotch whiskey. I'm Gonna Pop Quiz. You tell me everything. You remember about Scotch, whiskey bread, Scotland. Hey, malt malted barley. Delicious. Mmm, it's all you need to know. Folks, that's it. That's it, man. Yeah, Scotch whisky, as with all things will start at the very Basics, all scotches whiskey, not all whiskey is scotch. Same way that all bourbon is whiskey, not all Whiskey's bourbon, Scotch is made in Scotland. It has to be 100%, malted barley and in general, you will find it in one of two varieties.

32:45 It will either be Pete. Adorned on peated. Peated means that it tastes delicious. Non peated means that it tastes delicious. I think the biggest thing when you're thinking about Scotch is the region, that's what a lot of people get really kind of held up on and that's fine. Like most of your peated scotch is going to come as a Nyla Scotch from the islands, on the western sides of Scotland. The orkneys is a place where a few scotches come from and then you have your speyside scotches which are found near a river that I can't think of the name of Bob, is it the river spey? I'm pretty sure it's Loch Lomond, bread. There we go.

33:28 Let's go Ms. Yeah, yeah. So there's space side and then there's Highland whiskies and I'm sure that there's more reasons than that. I am still a novice when it comes to Scotch overall. But you know, that's usually you'll hear people talking about space site or I'll has or things like that. Yeah, I mean you didn't listen man you did pretty good on the pop quiz here. I will say that not all Scotch is made. Made only from malted barley. You're also allowed to add coloration to scotch in a way that you're not allowed to do with things like bourbon in America. And in order to achieve that color, sometimes they add other grains into the mix. So when you look at a bottle of Scotch whiskey, if it says the two words, single malt on it, that means two things put together the word single means that it comes from one. Distillery one single Distillery, the opposite of that would be Blended.

34:21 And then the word mulch means that it is made entirely from malted barley. The opposite of that would be grain. So you could have single malt single grain Blended malt or Blended grain. Scotch whisky what we're drinking today. Brad, as I said, is a single malt. Speyside scotch whisky has been aged for 10 years exclusively in Sherry casks and I'm very very excited to dive into it. This is clocking in at 86 proof or 43% ABV. Evie and we have talked long enough. Let's dive into this thing bread. Yeah, as I jumped into the nose here Bob, this is delectable.

35:01 I got strawberry jam, I got honey, there's a bit of like, an orange peel Citrus zest, feel to it, and the longer I sat with it, the more I felt like there was like an almond extract nuttiness going on that. I really enjoyed. I give it a 9 out of 10 on the nose. This is an interesting note. Me Brad because we've had a few space eyes on the show before. I think probably the most predominant ones were Glenlivet and a burl hour and we talked about how soft and delicate and floral and fruity they are this one really toes the line for me between smelling like a speyside and smelling like a Highland. I get a lot of like like Glenmorangie on this to be frank.

35:42 There's a lot more malt, a lot more spiciness and like the very faintest Whisper of almost like Like if you get your nose too close to like like gasoline and you kind of like prickles your nose a little bit, you know what I mean? Yeah, like it's not, it's not nail polish remover, but it has that slight. Oh, you need to take a step back here, you know, like Danger Danger on your nose but mixed with all of those lovely floral and fruity notes as well. It's a little bit perplexing to me because I don't know what to expect on the palate, but I am going to give it an 8 out of 10 on the nose. Yeah, when I got into the palette Bob the almonds feel came front right to the front.

36:25 I think I got almond slices. There was some cherry, some strawberry shortcake. Kind of like with like a whipped cream creaminess feel to it and then the, The Barley really started to come through on the palate, but it was soft enough that it didn't overwhelm any of the other stuff going on. I'm sticking at a 9 out of 10 on the flavor. Bob, I think this is a really incredible Scotch. Yeah, for me. It's a Darker than what you're describing Brad. I think if there's a fruit on it for me, It's almost like a luxardo cherry like it's a, it's a brandied dark stone fruit. And then all the barley in the world followed by some smokiness and it's closer to char or an ash, then it is a peat smoke. Definitely darker in character.

37:10 And I would, I would say this tastes more like a Highland Scotch to me than it does a space. I'd just based on the ones we've tried so far. I like this a lot. It is surprising me in ways that, you know, I definitely we didn't expect it to. So I'm going to give it a 7 out of 10 on the palate. Yeah, the Finish is really nice. It's got about a medium finish. It doesn't last crazy long, but it sticks with you for a little bit. For me, I got into the darker fruit territory on the Finish. Blackberries Plum, the Almond stuck around and then it had a nice vanilla Spritz at the end that was intriguing. I give it an eight and a half on the Finish. Yeah I think vanilla is a good call here. I was trying to pinpoint other something sweet that I normally get on American whiskeys and it wasn't caramel and it's definitely vanilla.

38:01 It's really good man. I will say that this is a little spicier than I thought it would be like, it's definitely not alcohol forward. It's not prickly in that way, but it's got some black pepper on it, which is really, really nice. It's this is like, almost reminiscent of it's like the Rye Whiskey of the speyside region. That makes sense. Yeah, and I like it a lot. I'm gonna give it a seven point five on the finish. I'll jump right in with balance. I think that this is a very well balanced whiskey. I don't think that there was much on the nose that Teased something that wasn't there on the taste or finish. It definitely feels. I don't want to say out of place but just different from the space sides. We've tried so far but that difference was Apparent from the get-go.

38:47 And so I think it is a really consistent product, I'll give it an 8 out of 10. I give it a 9 and a half on balance. I think that there's a complexity of flavor mixed with a really nice experience that that isn't a roller coaster. I think that this was a very well balanced whiskey that is. Nine and a half Brad, I don't know what the price on this is right now. I think they stopped selling it in the state of Ohio. I'm like 99% certain that this was part of one of my OHL Q last call runs that I did for the show. So I picked this up at a bit of a discount but I don't know what it typically retails for. What have you found the best I can tell is that it's around a fifty dollar, Whiskey in the state's, I think this is a great value for 50 bucks.

39:38 Like is it my favorite Scotch at $50? No but it's a 10-year Scotch that has a very unique flavor profile. You know, according to the region that it's from and 50 bucks, I'll give it a 9 out of 10 man. Yeah, that's exactly what I gave it. I think that you know, if this was like anything under 50 it be a 10 out of 10. $50 is like right where it should be if not a little higher. This could be a 60 dollar bottle of whiskey and I'd be like yeah that makes sense. So yeah. $50. This is a nine out of ten value. Bob I am coming out to a very high and I think it's going to be a little bit higher than yours 45 out of 50 Brad. I'm at a 40 out of 50 and I will add the caveat that I like this less than you.

40:24 And the reason I'm at a 40 is because I gave it a 9 out of 10 on value, it would be a 31 out of 40 on just the tasting experience, which is still good, very good. But this is not like in my upper echelon of scotch. Is that we've tried for this show but it sounds like it's really checking all the boxes for you. Yeah, I mean, I believe that would put me at a 36 out of 40. So yes, I very much. So enjoy this whiskey. I think that it's very easily worth a buy or a try. If you find it out in the wild, I'll agree with that. And we're coming out to an average of a 42.5 or an 85 out of 100. Darn good, whiskey, Brad.

41:06 And I think that, yeah, you know, if they Had this in the chilkoot pass back in the day. It really would have helped them warm their cockles, as they prospected for the gold, the cockles of their soul. Bob, let's get back to talking about the cockles of Charlie Chaplin's. So, what say you? Yeah, I don't want to talk about cockles on anyone, but that sounds good man. Let's do it. All right, everybody, that was Tam. Do 10 a whiskey that we as you said at the start start of the episode Bob struggled with, we sure did 450 bucks, man. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, dude, it's good whiskey. This almost would have been a bargain back in 1800 something. Whenever this movie set Well, whether or not it's a bargain, we are going to move into Canada's favorite segments to fax in a falsehood, is gonna try to stop you by all right? And what is wrong?

42:08 Two facts in a faucet to facts in a falsehood is the part of the show where Brad presents three items to me, as fact about the making of this movie, one of which is a complete lie. And I have to guess, which one is the LIE, Bradley. As, you know, I have checked 12 books out of the library, on Charles Chaplin. As we get into his films here and I have read zero of them in preparation for this episode. I will tell you what I have done for this episode so that you don't get mad. I glanced at the Wikipedia article mostly for specs on how long the movie was, and I read an essay in the Criterion Collection, which I sent to you before we start, we started recording.

42:51 So that's literally To the extent of my prep for this episode. If you're going to pull one over on me, now is the time man. Yeah, I'm absolutely ready. I'm prepared to take the victory home today. Let's do this, I will say I'm at 500 now last week you also episode 10 on the season, I am five and five. So this is really, you know, this is the Crux of the thing right now, A Clash of Titans, if you will. Fact number one, an actual American black bear was used for the scene, where the lone prospector encounters the Beast, which was quite unusual for the time when it was very normal for large. Phony looking costume men to play Animals fact, number two, Chaplin originally envisioned this film to take place in San Francisco, California.

43:39 But was convinced by milk gross that the Yukon had more potential for isolating. Its main character due to its inclement weather, Weather. Fact, number three, this movie May feature the earliest born actor in any major film born in 1828 in modern-day Brownsville. Texas, pop Taylor appears in this movie as the ancient dancing prospector, he was 70 years old at the time of the actual Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. Wow, well that's cool. I'm going to go ahead and assume three is true. I don't remember the ancient dancing prospector but sure, we'll just say it's true. One and two are interesting and I'll start with number two. I don't know if chaplain wanted to set this movie in San Francisco.

44:25 Or where did you say? You said San Francisco, right? Yeah, yep, the gold rush in San Francisco. I don't know if he wanted to set it in San Francisco. I know he wanted to film on location and had to fill most of it in California, which I mean, that makes sense. So I know the difficulty know the, the pull between going to like Alaska or staying in California. Nia was a thing. I don't know if it had anything to do with the setting of the movie. Number one is interesting because if you watch that scene where the black bear comes in the cabin, there's very obviously a real bear in some of these scenes. And then when it starts beating people up, it's very obviously, a person in a fake bear suit. So I'm struggling with the way that one's worded because it's clearly a both and like there's definitely a bear. There's definitely also a person in a suit I think I'm going to say one, is the falsehood, just by the way, it was written. But I think one or two could be false and if it's three then I had no chance.

45:28 Well Bob fact, number two was the false lot man. Fact number one is the truth, according to IMDb. All right. Well, I'm pretty sure there was a guy in a bear suit in in those scenes. I don't know. What's your take on that Fred? I mean, On the wording of the, the truth, or just the, whether or not there was a real person, I guess both. But yeah, was there, it seems like they enter cut a trained bear with a guy Charlie. Chaplin is fighting in a suit. Yes, 100%, I'm with you. All right, well I want half a victory, then this is ridiculous. So you are still at 500 with five-and-a-half wins and five and a half glasses. All right Magill Ace will take my L, but This is one of those moments where it's like IMDb not trustworthy. I mean I think the focus was more on the fact that they had a bear at all right.

46:26 More than the fact that there was a guy in a suit for some of it, I feel it. All right, so I think that was the the point of the fact what you really should have said was they got a giant six-foot chicken to be in this movie one of the rarest chickens in the world and not a Charlie Chaplin dressed as a chicken. Yeah. Which actually It was supposed to be somebody else. Stresses the chicken, but chaplain got so frustrated with him that he just put the suit on himself and did it. I love that man. Yeah. Like I think I can be a better chicken than this guy committed. The auteur Charlie Chaplin dressing as a chicken because the other guy dresses, the chicken wasn't doing a good enough job. All right, man, where do you want to go from here? I feel like we've had a really good conversation about why? Chaplain is an indelible figure and an endearing figure. I feel like we've had a good conversation about some of the directorial choices.

47:18 He made in this movie, may be the best place to start Brad. If I could kind of steer us somewhere, is like what gags worked for you best what, sequences from the movie? Do you remember the most aside from the Old Lang? Syne one that we've talked about already. I think the shot that I referred to earlier, there's this moment where Charlie goes into the dance hall for the first time and he, you know, he has the, The Boy Meets Girl, you know, when he sees Georgia and Falls immediately in love. And there's this shot where he is like standing underneath, you know, kind of an overhang and a ton of people around him just talking and then the band strikes up and you know, it's time to dance. And the camera just sits behind Charles like a little bit lower than his waist, height kind of looking up on him a tiny bit and he's like perfectly silhouetted by the ceiling above him. And you just watch as every human being in the dance. Hall finds a partner and starts dancing or talking or engaging with someone and he just stands there. They're open feet, taking it all in lonely, as I've ever seen a human being on a, on in a movie, and the camera just sits there for a solid ten seconds, which is a long time in. When you think about movies,

48:50 especially where they're cut in a lot of films with how quick they go, it's just a solid 10 to 15 seconds on him standing there. He kind of leans on his Cane a little bit and And you just feel just from his back, the loneliness that this character is feeling and I'm just like, sitting there going. Oh, this is a perfect movie scene. A perfect movie shot. Yep. And I just, I don't know, man. I it was mind-boggling. And in that moment, I was like, oh, I get it, like, I understand why people love, Charlie Chaplin. It's stuff like this that I'm like Yep. This is why he remains relevant to 100 years later, it is like a mind-bogglingly beautiful shot.

49:38 And it's one of those things where You almost got to hit pause on it and kind of take in, why it's working. So, well, it's the framing, it's how big chaplain is in the frame, compared to the people who are dancing physically away from him. It's the way that the lens is kind of putting those people further. And further out of focus, the farther they get away from him, it's the lighting. And it's a really great example of using, like, multiple points of light to accentuate, or like, I don't know, D accentuate, other areas. It's the kind of smokiness of that. It's all in the way, the lights catching that. It is just a perfect shot. I don't like. Yeah, and it's really rare that we spend more than 20 seconds, talking about how beautiful it specific shot is in a movie, but the framing of the Tramp, looking on, at the rest of the world having fun without him is perhaps the like it's the most iconic image I can think of of the Tramp.

50:34 And I think that for me it makes me think about Spielberg and the way he talks about About John Ford and, you know, like the famous meeting that he had when he was a little kid. Yeah, or a teenager when he met John Ford and John Ford's talking about how to frame a shot. That's what I was thinking about. As I watched this shot, like I thought about how people talk about Ford that he didn't have to move the camera because he just shot a beautiful shot. Like, you don't need to move the camera if it's in the perfectly right spot. And I like that's what I was thinking about. As I watched this, this All seen that I was just like, yeah. Like you don't need to move the camera when it's in the perfect spot like Charles knew what he was doing here and it's just incredible. And I couldn't walk away from this episode, without talking about it.

51:24 I think the two most famous kind of gags in this movie, I don't know. If I want to call him gags, but like, famous comedy bits are first, the cooking and eating of the shoe really funny. And at, like it's really great, it's big, Jim McKay. Okay, and the Tramp are in this cabin and they've been starving for days and days and days. While black Larson is out shooting people and running off and dying and they have no idea where he is and Chaplin Cooks, one of his shoes and they decide to eat it and and Big Jim takes the the top part of the shoe and leaves the Tramp, the heel of the shoe with Nails in it and watching them both eat this thing. Like apparently the shoe was made out of black licorice, I think they do a really good job of selling that. It is just cooked leather.

52:11 Yep. Watching the Tramp, take each of these little nails and put them in his mouth and like, pick every bit of meat off of the bone again. Like, he's eating chicken wings or like a rib or something. Yeah, it's such a great moment, man, dude. The the whole opening scene with the way he like gets backed off by the gun and they're like, backing around the room. And the way that they eat, the, the shoe that that whole sequence between him and Big, Jim Jim is comedy gold. Oh yeah. And I don't know if this is the other set piece but I'm going to point it out the whole house falling off the edge of the cliff. Just feels like the best slap, the best of slapstick comedy, you know, and I love the house teetering on the edge of the cliff, but I almost love earlier in the movie, every time the door gets opened and there's like a big gust of wind and their load, he's trying to kick trap out of the house and chaplains like running Against the Wind and not going anywhere.

53:09 Mmm. The other really Famous sequence Brad and you might not know it because I feel like it gets buried under. These bigger set pieces is this bit where chaplains dreaming? And he does this little dance with the dinner rolls at where he like, he puts two roles on a fork and you pop them out. Like it is his feet and he does a dance on the table with honey. It's really funny but I feel like I've never understood why that is the like literally Brad. It's the most iconic thing chaplain has ever done. And apparently, I was just reading in this essay today. When they premiered the movie in Berlin, now again, we keep getting circling back to Berlin on these things. But pre Nazi Berlin. They premiered this movie and that bit killed so much that they stopped the movie, and ran it back like during the premiere of the movie.

53:59 No. It's, it's that iconic. And I feel like I'm pooh-poohing like one of the most famous scenes in history. It's a funny bit. I don't know if I've ever understood. Why it became the most iconic chapters. When bit, but I do think it does a really good job of showing his physicality like it. He looks like a small man doing a dance on a table with dinner rolls for feet. And I think it works really well. I think the reason it works and it kills so much is that he is just so incredibly smooth, like the, the way he uses his hands and the way he flips these dinner rolls around like It's so much looks like a real Can-Can that it's I'm about to do it.

54:47 It's uncanny. Hey how much it looks like he's actually doing it and you're I feel like it's almost man. I'm just I'm on a roll here. Bob it's almost an uncanny valley. Mmm of like it is so smooth and looks so much like an actual Can-Can and yet it's just dinner rolls on Forks. Yeah. And the I was losing it when I was watching it. Do it. I thought that was an incredibly funny scene. I would agree with you though that. I don't know why that would be the funniest. All right man. I think we're at a good spot to segue into our last segment of the day which we call, let's make it a double we near the end of the episode. So thanks for listening to the film and whiskey show. Let's pair another film with this one. Even if it's struggle, it's a final section of the day. Now let's make it a double.

55:37 Let's make it. A double is the part of the show, where we pick a movie to pair up with this one to make the perfect double feature Brad. I didn't really have one coming into this episode and I feel like you've given me the inspiration. Eration to just say, it's Treasure of the Sierra Madre, like it's that's about Perry. I could possibly think of two great movies about prospecting for gold, and they go in wildly, different directions. Yeah, 100%. And I think that Treasure of the Sierra Madre Works especially because of the Ridiculousness of that movie and yet, how grounded it remains. And I think that in a similar way like the, you know, the Gold Rush is a ridiculous movie with slapstick.

56:18 The end yet. It somehow stays grounded in the real experience of loneliness that pretty much every human has felt. So I think that's a really good pairing Bob. Is that your parent? No, I think I want to get it out of the way and I think it works here because of how much slapstick comedy occurs in this film. I don't know if I'm gonna partner with a movie. I'm just going to partner with the Three Stooges. Mmm, like, you know, because as best as I can remember, I don't know if They made a feature-length movie but they had a lot of like half hour comedy specials that were truly incredible. And so I would say just go watch, you know, three or four episodes of The Three Stooges and pair it with the gold rush and you'll have an absolutely entertaining evening.

57:09 I think that's a great pairing and this is the one that I would do that pairing for because among the four films like there's definitely slapstick bits and there's a Out of bits where he's interacting with a second person and doing pratfalls, but this is the most Three Stooges e of the four movies. We're going to watch. Yeah. That's that's kind of what I felt and so I was like, I think this is a good space for that. All right, Brad, it's time for final scores. I really like this movie, I just don't think it hits the heights of City Lights. Well, that's not true. It exceeds the comedic Heights of city lights, but we're City Lights is like a 9.5 for me on every Single category, I think this movie. The second act, especially really drags for me. The ongoing thing about that bully and his interactions with Georgia.

57:59 I feel like the scenes where it's just the two of them talking about like what they're going to do together and whether or not he likes her, I could care less get me back to the Tramp. I think the the way the movie ends is really really funny. It's almost like a Shakespeare comedy where, you know, everyone gets married at the end. But the the way that they go from like, This guy is a stowaway. Let's put him in jail to like no, he's not, he's a millionaire and then he goes and this is my wife and she's like, all right, cool, let's get married. Yeah, really kind of whiplash on that relationship. So I think that there's flaws to this movie. It's still an 8.5 out of 10 for me. I like this one a lot more than I liked city lights and I like City Lights. This was a 9 out of 10 for me.

58:44 Bob, I think that the Comedy Works the, the slapstick elements, the dramatic elements. I love a lot of the camera work and I like the setting a little bit better. So yeah, 9 out of 10 for me. All right, we're coming out to an eight point seven five out of ten but we would like to know what you think. Maybe I'm completely wrong about how many people out there have watched Chaplin's films and you're all going to rake me over the coals and say that I called you all Rubes. But I would like you to do that in the form of a message on our social media accounts. So you can reach out to me and Brad to congratulate him on being smarter, than me, Facebook Twitter, Instagram, and Tick-Tock at film whiskey, or you can jump onto our Discord.

59:27 Discord is a beautiful place where we get to talk about all things film, and whiskey and Beyond, we should call our Discord film, whiskey and Beyond. That's an idea. Right there, I love it. Come, join us. We're talking about all sorts of things all the time. You can find a link to our Discord at the end of every single one of our show notes next week, Brad, we are throwing it all the way forward to 1940. So this is chronologically the last movie in our set of for its chaplains. First sound film and he uses it to Great extent. It's also going to be the longest one we watch from. Chaplain at just a little over two hours. It's called The Great Dictator. So, we're watch that one next week. But until then, I'm Bob book. I'm Brad G and we'll see you next time.