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 | eating with a knife | eating beans with a knife | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

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: The arrival in the Land of Liberty.

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Alternate Versions

Kino International distributes a set of videos containing all the 12 Mutual short films made by Chaplin in 1915 - 1917. They are presented by David H. Shepard, who copyrighted the versions in 1984, and has a music soundtrack composed and performed by Michael D. Mortilla who copyrighted his score in 1989. The running time of this film is 25 minutes.

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Connections

Spoofed in Boomsville (1968)

User Reviews

One of the later Mutual shorts that shows Chaplin's sentimental side

A group of immigrants travel on a boat to their new lives in America. On the boat the little tramp meets and befriends and helps a young lady whose mother has lost all her money. Months later he is in a restaurant when he meets her again. He wants to look after her but the prospects look bleak, as he cannot even pay for the food they are currently eating.

This is one of the later shorts that Chaplin made for Mutual Films and it is starting to show an element of the poignancy that he brought to his later features. The plot sees him take pity on a young lady even when they are both down on their luck and to stick together even when things are looking rough until things suddenly begin to look up for them both. The film has no extreme physical routines but it does have ongoing gags – the guts of this film is in the restaurant rather than the boat. It is still amusing and the story is better developed than some of his other shorts.

Chaplin is excellent, doing trademark hat flicks etc while Purviance is much better here than other mutual shorts simply because she has a good role. Fans will love it and it's steady foundation and gentle humour may win others over.

Details

Official Sites:

Instagram Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

None 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