The Immigrant
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The Immigrant | |
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Theatrical poster for The Immigrant (1917) |
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Directed by | Charles Chaplin Edward Brewer (technical director) |
Produced by | John Jasper |
Written by | Charles Chaplin (scenario) Vincent Bryan (scenario) Maverick Terrell (scenario) |
Starring | Charles Chaplin Edna Purviance Eric Campbell |
Cinematography | Roland H. Totheroh George C. Zalibra |
Editing by | Charles Chaplin |
Distributed by | Mutual Film Corporation |
Release date(s) | June 17, 1917 |
Running time | 2 Reels (full length unknown) |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent film English intertitles |
All Movie Guide profile | |
IMDb profile |
The Immigrant (also called Broke) is a 1917 short comedy film starring the Charlie Chaplin Tramp character as an immigrant coming to the United States who is accused of theft on the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, and befriends a young woman along the way. It also stars Edna Purviance and Eric Campbell.
The movie was written and directed by Chaplin.
According to Kevin Brownlow and David Gill's documentary series Unknown Chaplin, the first scenes to be written and filmed take place in what became the movie's second half, in which the penniless Tramp finds a coin and goes for a meal in a restaurant, not realising that the coin has fallen out of his pocket. It was not until later that Chaplin decided the reason the Tramp was penniless was that he had just arrived on a boat from Europe, and used this notion as the basis for the first half. Purviance reportedly was required to eat so many plates of beans during the many takes to complete the restaurant sequence (in character as another immigrant who falls in love with Charlie) that she became physically ill.
The scene in which Chaplin's character kicks an immigration officer was cited later as evidence of his anti-Americanism when he was forced to leave the United States in the 1950s. The film has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
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The Mack Sennett Comedies: Kid Auto Races at Venice
The Chaplin-Mutual Comedies: The Floorwalker • The Fireman • The Vagabond • One A.M. • The Count • The Pawnshop • Behind the Screen • The Rink • Easy Street • The Cure • The Immigrant • The Adventurer
Feature-length films: Tillie's Punctured Romance • The Kid • A Woman of Paris • The Gold Rush • The Circus • City Lights • Modern Times • The Great Dictator • Monsieur Verdoux • Limelight • A King in New York • A Countess from Hong Kong
Other films: The New Janitor • Chaplin
Stock company: Edna Purviance • Eric Campbell • Albert Austin • Henry Bergman