The Immigrant Movie

The Immigrant
Rating:
Run Time: 20 min
MPAA Rating:
Released: 1917
Directors: Charles Chaplin
Genre/Type: Comedy
Slapstick
Romantic Comedy
Producers: Charles Chaplin
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Charles Chaplin's next-to-last Mutual Studios 2-reeler is as funny as his other 11 Mutual entries, though there's a stronger inner lining of poignancy. En route by boat from an unnamed country, immigrant Chaplin tries to make the best of the nausea-inducing rough seas. He then befriends fellow emigree Edna Purviance and her ailing mother. Months pass: Chaplin meets Purviance in a restaurant. Quickly ascertaining that her mother has died, Chaplin appoints himself Purviance's protector. He even promises to pay for the meal; after all, he's just found a silver dollar on the street. But when the dollar lands on the ground with a leadlike thud, Chaplin realizes he's as broke as ever--and now he's at the mercy of blood-in-his-eye headwaiter Eric Campbell. But fortune smiles on Chaplin and Purviance when a famous artist decides to hire the girl as his model. Chaplin negotiates an excellent contract for his bride-to-be, and everything comes up roses.

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"Immigrant Song" lyrics: We come from the land of the ice and snow, from the ...
Because legally they are still apart of another country but if they are allowed to work here I think they should be allowed to vote.
They were fleeing their countries and all the strict rules. Search more for the details. Recommendation: wikipedia.org
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Cast

Actors Character Born
Charles Chaplin Immigrant Apr 16, 1889 in London, England
Eric Campbell Head Waiter
Edna Purviance Immigrant Oct 21, 1894 in Lovelock, Paradise Valley, NV
Henry Bergman The Artist
Albert Austin A Diner Dec 13, 1881 in Birmingham, UK
Gertrude Keller Walton's Housekeeper
Stanley "Tiny" Sandford Gambler on Ship
Valeska Suratt Masha Jun 28, 1882 in Terre Haute, IN
Jane Wolff Olga
Frank J. Coleman Ship's Officer and Restaurant Owner
John Rand Tipsy Diner Who Cannot Pay Nov 19, 1871 in New Haven, CT
Kitty Bradbury Her Mother
Raymond Hatton Munsing Jul 7, 1887 in Red Oak, IA
James T. Kelly Shabby man in Restaurant
Loyal Underwood Small Immigrant
Theodore Roberts J.J. Walton Oct 2, 1861 in San Francisco, CA
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Back to the topReview

Review by Lucia Bozzola
The Little Tramp comes to America in Charles Chaplin's two-reeler Mutual film The Immigrant (1917), an early, astute combination of social satire and straight comedy. Casting a critical eye on Lady Liberty rhetoric about welcoming the huddled masses, Chaplin pointedly contrasts symbols of American freedom with the reality suffered by the Tramp and his fellow poverty-stricken arrivals, as they are roped in like cattle and treated roughly by immigration authorities. At the same time, Chaplin mines humor out of the Tramp's refusal to be brought low, whether he's fishing amid seasick travelers, negotiating the perilously rocking boat, fending off an arrogant waiter, or finding love with Edna Purviance. Chaplin's technical restraint let his mime and sly visual compositions speak for themselves. Chaplin was already a star from his work for Mack Sennett and a seasoned director from his Essanay shorts, but his twelve shorts for Mutual turned him into an international superstar; The Immigrant and Easy Street (1916) presaged the social commentary of such later Chaplin features as The Kid (1921) and The Gold Rush (1925).
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