1338. There were no good answers to these questions and after
spending many days engrossed in deep reflection on all aspects of dream
manufacture, he decided to take a break and go to see a movie. At that time
Freud's favorite film star was the American Charlie Chaplin. He had seen all of
his films many times. Although he had seen "The Gold Rush," twelve
times already he decided to see it yet again.
1339. Perhaps you think that Freud would have been drawn to more
serious fare, something like Fritz Lang or Von Sternberg seems like it would
suit the tasted of the great man. But in his entertainments Freud liked to put
aside all of the serious questions that preoccupied him, and give himself over
to unbridled hysterical laughter. Wiping tears from his eyes from
laughing so hard he often found himself falling out of his seat onto the floor
of the theater.
1340. There is a scene in the Gold Rush where the gold-miner's
shack has been driven by a storm to the edge of a precipice. The little tramp's
companion Big Jim falls out the door and is hanging by his fingernails from the
doorjamb. Charlie falls out also. Hanging on to Big Jim's shoe he dangles over
the abyss. Slowly he claws his way up the body of his partner and back into the
cabin.
1341. That scene in the Gold Rush is one of utter desperation.
Everything has gone wrong, and only by impossible struggle can the little
tramp save his life. That is the most comic episode in the film.
When the film first came out it was 1924 and at that time Freud would
find himself laughing so hard at this scene his vision was blurred by his
tears. Over the years he viewed this film over and over again like a child
memorizing a Disney cartoon feature.
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