Editing Charlie Chaplin (section)

====''A Woman of Paris'' and ''The Gold Rush''====
Having fulfilled his First National contract, Chaplin was free to make his first picture as an independent producer. In November 1922, he began filming ''[[A Woman of Paris]]'', a romantic drama about ill-fated lovers.{{sfn|Robinson|p=310}} Chaplin intended it to be a star-making vehicle for Edna Purviance,{{sfn|Robinson|p=302}} and did not appear in the picture himself other than in a brief, uncredited cameo.{{sfn|Robinson|pp=311–312}} He wished the film to have a realistic feel and directed his cast to give restrained performances. In real life, he explained, "men and women try to hide their emotions rather than seek to express them".{{sfn|Robinson|pp=319–321}} ''A Woman of Paris'' premiered in September 1923 and was acclaimed for its innovative, subtle approach.{{sfn|Robinson|pp=318–321}} The public, however, seemed to have little interest in a Chaplin film without Chaplin, and it was a [[box office bomb|box office disappointment]].{{sfn|Louvish|p=193}} The filmmaker was hurt by this failure{{snd}}he had long wanted to produce a dramatic film and was proud of the result{{snd}}and soon withdrew ''A Woman of Paris'' from circulation.{{sfn|Robinson|pp=302, 322}}
[[File:Chaplin the gold rush boot.jpg|thumb|The Tramp resorts to eating his boot in ''[[The Gold Rush]]'' (1925).]]

Chaplin returned to comedy for his next project. Setting his standards high, he told himself "This next film must be an epic! The Greatest!"{{sfn|Louvish|p=195}} Inspired by a photograph of the 1898 [[Klondike Gold Rush]], and later the story of the [[Donner Party]] of 1846–1847, he made what Geoffrey Macnab calls "an epic comedy out of grim subject matter".{{sfnm|1a1=Kemp|1p=64|2a1=Chaplin|2p=299}} In ''[[The Gold Rush]]'', the Tramp is a lonely [[prospecting|prospector]] fighting adversity and looking for love. With [[Georgia Hale]] as his leading lady, Chaplin began filming the picture in February 1924.{{sfn|Robinson|p=337}} Its elaborate production, costing almost $1{{spaces}}million,{{sfn|Robinson|p=358}} included [[location shooting]] in the [[Truckee Range|Truckee mountains]] in [[Nevada]] with 600 extras, extravagant sets, and [[special effect]]s.{{sfn|Robinson|pp=340–345}} The last scene was shot in May 1925 after 15 months of filming.{{sfn|Robinson|p=354}}

Chaplin felt ''The Gold Rush'' was the best film he had made.{{sfn|Robinson|p=357}} It opened in August 1925 and became one of the highest-grossing films of the silent era, with a U.S. box-office of $5{{spaces}}million.{{efn|{{Inflation|US|5000000|1925|fmt=eq|r=-5}}}}{{sfnm|1a1=Robinson|1p=358|2a1=Kemp|2p=63}} The comedy contains some of Chaplin's most famous sequences, such as the Tramp eating his shoe and the "Dance of the Rolls".{{sfnm|1a1=Kemp|1pp=63–64|2a1=Robinson|2pp=339, 353|3a1=Louvish|3p=200|4a1=Schickel|4p=19}} Macnab has called it "the quintessential Chaplin film".{{sfn|Kemp|p=64}} Chaplin stated at its release: "This is the picture that I want to be remembered by".{{sfn|Vance|2003|p=154}}