The Immigrant (1917)

Charlie is an immigrant who endures a challenging voyage and gets into trouble as soon as he arrives in America.

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Eric Campbell

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Charles Chaplin	...	Immigrant
Edna Purviance	...	Immigrant
Eric Campbell	...	Head Waiter
Albert Austin	...	Russian / Restaurant diner
Henry Bergman	...	Artist
Kitty Bradbury	...	Edna's mother
Frank J. Coleman	...	Bearded cheating gambler / Restaurant owner
William Gillespie	...	Café violinist
Tom Harrington	...	Marriage registrar
James T. Kelley	...	Shabby man in restaurant
John Rand	...	Tipsy diner
Janet Sully	...	Passenger (as Janet Milly Sully)
Loyal Underwood	...	Pint-sized passenger
Tom Wilson	...	Gambler on ship

Storyline

Charlie is on his way to the USA. He wins in a card game, puts the money in Edna's bag (she and her sick mother have been robbed of everything). When he retrieves a little for himself he is accused of being a thief. Edna clears his name. Later, broke, Charlie finds a coin and goes into a restaurant. There he finds Edna, whose mother has died, and asks her to join him. When he reaches for the coin to pay for their meals it is missing (it has fallen through a hole in his pocket).

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Plot Keywords:

coin | national film registry | slapstick comedy | mother | card game | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 June 1917 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Modern Columbus

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lone Star Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min 24 min (restored)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Charles Chaplin edited the film for four days and nights without sleep in order to release it on schedule.

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Goofs

At 3:57 Charlie lets the girl take his seat at the table. The cook gives her a dish of soup. Right after Charlie opens the door, the dish is gone.

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Quotes

Title Card: Beans!

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Alternate Versions

Henry Bergman was originally cast as the Head Waiter and extensive footage was shot before Chaplin recast the role with Eric Campbell. This unused footage appeared in the documentary series The Unknown Chaplin, along with bloopers and alternate takes from this film. A 1960s 8mm home movie release of this film was retitled "Broke" and contained most of the Restaurant sequence, from the Tramp entering the establishment, to realizing he has no money and seeing the Head Waiter beat up a non-paying customer. After the advent of sound, the film was reissued with sound effects added.

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Connections

Featured in One Hundred Children Waiting for a Train (1988)

User Reviews

Entertaining Short Feature

One of Charlie Chaplin's many entertaining short features, "The Immigrant" is interesting for the great variety of slapstick skills that Chaplin shows off, plus a few touches of the kind of sensitive observations that would later be such a large part in his best films.

Charlie is one of a group of immigrants on a ship coming to America. The first part of the film takes place at sea, and is mostly simple slapstick centering on the rocky motion of the ship. After a brief scene where the immigrants are admitted to the USA, there is a scene in a restaurant that is one of the funniest in any of Chaplin's short comedies, combining some nicely-timed slapstick with a sympathetic awareness of the kinds of problems faced by someone just trying to get by in a strange and sometimes unfriendly land.

Chaplin fans will certainly want to see this one.