Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

binapiraeus During the two years Charlie Chaplin worked for Mutual Films, he certainly developed his own UNIQUE style that made him the most popular comedian in the world to perfection; and, along with "Easy Street", "The Immigrant" is probably his greatest work from that period (which he himself described as the happiest time in his life).Of course, there's plenty of the good old slapstick comedy that had made him famous in his Keystone days, and there are just SO many unforgettably funny scenes in this 25-minute masterpiece - the way he wins his 'starting capital' for his new life in the New World in a card game, the way he 'shares' his soup with one of his fellow passengers on the rocking ship, his first lunch in an American restaurant and his struggle for the money to pay his bill, with the threat of being beaten up by the big, mean waiter (Eric Campbell, in the role of the bullying baddie once again)...BUT there's also that most DISTINCTIVE note of social criticism which coined Chaplin's later works, EVERY single one of which was to become a timeless classic of inestimable cultural worth, and marked the 'birth' of a new movie genre: the tragicomedy. First, we get to see the conditions under which poor people from all nations travel to the United States, hoping for a better future there - while as soon as our little tramp sets foot on American soil, things are a LOT different than he expected: he doesn't even know how to pay for his food, neither for that of the lovely girl he'd met on board the ship (Edna Purviance, of course, cute as a button in one of her most wonderful roles), and whose sick mother has died in the meantime... So, will there be a typical 'Hollywood happy ending' for our young couple after all? In less than half an hour, this PERFECTLY played, directed and timed film (after the shooting was finished, Chaplin sat at the editing table for FOUR whole days and nights, 'trimming' it to exactly the MASTERPIECE it finally became) tells us a great human story, makes us simply LOVE the protagonists and hope and worry for their fate, become a bit thoughtful about social conditions - and, of course, at the same time makes us roar with laughter! Well, THAT is Charlie's very own and inimitable recipe...

Armand way to America. a generous subject. and perfect occasion to give it a lot of nuances. story of love, many gags, it is beginning of Chaplin in cinema world and, in same measure, short synthesis of his work. because each of future elements of his creation is present here. social question, the usual characters, the Charlot mark, the poor young woman and generous hero, the innocence and brutal force, nice gestures and forms of humor, lovely end.it is not a basis or a recipes. only a vision about life.not complicated, not unusual. like a parable, it is only window to reality heart. and good element for reflection about magic of film and the waves of history.

brando647 This was my first ever exposure to the works of Charlie Chaplin and remains one of my favorites. We watched THE IMMIGRANT at the introduction to our discussion of silent film in my film history class and it was this movie (as well as EASY STREET, my all-time favorite Chaplin) that solidified my Chaplin fandom. It's clever, funny, and tells a pretty coherent story over the course of its meager twenty-four minute run-time, which isn't necessarily the case for all his films in my opinion. Whereas some just seem to drop Chaplin in an amusing situation and let him do his thing (e.g. THE CURE, where he's let loose in a health spa), THE IMMIGRANT tells the brief story of…well…an immigrant. Chaplin's lovable tramp is one of many immigrants huddled aboard a ship bound for America where he hopes to make a new life. On his journey, he meets and falls for a beautiful woman making the journey to America with her ill mother. Upon making landfall, Chaplin is penniless (having given his gambling winnings to the beautiful woman after her mother's money was stolen) and hungry. He finds a coin in the streets and pops into a restaurant for a meal when he crosses paths with the woman again. He continues to woe her, hoping to win her heart while at the same time dodging the angry brute of a waiter who's not afraid to rough up patrons who try to skip out on a bill.THE IMMIGRANT is one of the most consistently funny Chaplin short films I've had the pleasure of watching. The gags are funny and, unlike some of his other films, the jokes don't run on too long. As I mentioned before, I also love the fact that there's a solid little story in there. It's the usual stuff: boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy wins girl. We've seen the same thing in plenty of his films, but it's the jokes and visual gags that make each movie special. I love the entire restaurant sequence, with Chaplin caught between trying to win the woman's heart while quietly panicking over his restaurant bill when his coin is discovered to be bogus. It's a fun movie and that doesn't wear out it's welcome halfway through with stale gags. I always have a hard time writing comments on Chaplin's films and putting up a convincing argument for new people to check them out; these movies were made before cinematography was more than some basic lighting and a locked down camera so there really isn't much to say aside from…it's funny. Check it out. It won me over and, if you've never seen it, it might win you over as a Chaplin fan too.

Michael_Elliott The Immigrant (1917) **** (out of 4) Terrific comedy from Charles Chaplin has him playing an immigrant who arrives in America and soon finds himself in trouble after trying to impress a woman (Edna Purviance) he met and fell in love with on the boat trip over. Of all the shorts Chaplin directed in his career, I think this one here is the best of the bunch because it's just sweet perfection from start to finish and I think it hit upon several things that would appear in his classic features and that's the ability to mix heart and comedy. There are so many highlights in this movie that I think it would be impossible for anyone not to laugh. We get off to an extremely fast start on the ship with a very funny scene where Chaplin catches a fish, throws it on board and then it ends up biting an innocent man. This is followed by a classic sequence where it's dinner time and it's hard to get a bite because the boat is rocking so bad. The comic timing in this sequence is just so perfect that it's easy to see why the director would shoot so long. Once on shore is pure magic as the tramp finds some money and goes into a store to get something to eat but of course the coin falls out of his pocket and he's in trouble. If you've seen the documentary UNKNOWN CHAPLIN then you'll remember the restaurant sequence and how it was broken down to show what a genius Chaplin was. This entire sequence is just so perfect in regards to its execution that it's really amazing that anyone was smart enough to pull it off. THE IMMIGRANT is pure magic from start to finish and it ranks of one of Chaplin's best films.