rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1923
Directed by Charles Chaplin; produced by Charles Chaplin; written by Charles Chaplin
Starring Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Kitty Bradbury, Sydney Chaplin, Mack Swain, Mai Wells
Charlie Chaplin's 'The Pilgrim' is, according to a poster, "4 Great Reels" of fun. This short feature film does not belong to the best of Chaplin, but it contains some good gags and has an inspired part somewhere in the middle, where church customs are ridiculed in a non-offensive way.
The little tramp is an escaped convict with a heart on the right place, mistaken for a minister. This leads up to the sequence described above. After church he is invited for dinner, which leads to complications when a crook recognizes him from jail. An annoying kid and a man missing a hat deliver most of the comedy in this final act.
'The Pilgrim' knows how to keep the viewer's attention and throws in enough Chaplin-magic to be entertaining all the way through. It lacks the real "tramp"-moments and the great inspiration that normally comes with it, especially in the first fifteen minutes or so. The ending, however, is priceless.