Il pellegrino

I've only seen this as the 40 minute reissue with Matt Monroe warbling Chaplin's song 'Bound for Texas' all the way through it. There's nothing at all wrong with the tune or the singing, except that it comes on too often and makes you realise just how ordinary the rest of the score is. Maybe the DVD's better - maybe!

The film itself is a pleasure, not a joy, but it does have some typically wonderful Chaplin moments in it: The jig with the collection-boxes, the cake/hat, the sticking on his chin of the little 'beard' to make him look tough (what an expression he put on as well!) The reissue moves swiftly along, and you're borne with it until you sadly realise that it's over - too fast. Personally, the storyline is too thin and the gags though numerous are just too disparate and inconsequential to put this amongst his very best, but on a good second level. Charlie's maturer and lesser efforts like this are still towering achievements in comparison with most of his contemporaries and successors best.

Having escaped from prison for a crime that is never mentioned, The Tramp disguises himself as a pastor as he heads for Texas. Arriving from train, he is quickly mistaken as the new curator / priest that the small town is expecting. The Tramp is once again placed into a situation that he was act his way out of. Finding himself in the middle of a sermon, The Tramp must perform is way off stage to convince the town that he a priest. The ending, although meant to be funny, is more political that humor. The 1920's outlook on Mexico was the same as it was since the end of the Mexican American War in the 1840's. The audience laughs as we see Mexico and its people as savage and unpredictable as ever. Although the Tramp survives to fight another day, he manages to throw a political message out to the audience before the end of the movie.

Over-shadowed by such classics as THE GOLD RUSH or CITY-LIGHTS, THE PILGRIM is a delight and is perhaps Charlie's finest 'short'. Dropping his 'Little Tramp' character, Chaplin is now an escaped convict, heading out West disguised as a clergyman and who is mistaken for the new Pastor of a small Western town.

Sentiment is kept at a minimum and THE PILGRIM is filled with inventive sight gags and sequences, with perhaps the stand-out being the middle-section, where Charlie suffers from the attentions of a little boy (the bowler hat covered with custard and served as afternoon tea is a wonderfully surreal touch)..

The 1959 re-issued version is perhaps the version to see, as it comes with a wonderful score by Chaplin and a specially written theme song, 'Bound For Texas' sung by Britain's own Matt Monroe. It's a memorably jaunty song which you will be humming for days afterwards.

This short comedy has some funny moments and a few observations about human nature thrown in. It is one of Chaplin's more popular shorts, due to the good slapstick sequences, even though it might not have as much substance as some of his other features.

At the beginning, Charlie gets mistaken for a town's new preacher, and starting with that, he finds himself in some increasingly complicated situations. There are some good gags and some funny moments that arise as "The Pilgrim" tries to figure out what is expected of him, and tries to fit in.

Edna Purviance is engaging as usual, and Syd Chaplin gets a chance to show his versatility, so both of them add something. A few of the scenes are drawn out a little too long, but in general it's a pretty good feature that most Chaplin fans will enjoy.

Chaplin originally planned "The Pilgrim" as a two-reel short, but it expanded to a four-reel feature. When comparing it to his films at Mutual or before, it's evident how far Chaplin had come with his First National pictures: he took his time elaborating and extending fewer gags and set pieces and in developing the plot and characters. His First National films may not always be as continually uproarious as his Mutual ones, but they are, I think, more satisfying and affecting.

"The Kid", deservedly his most beloved First National release, greatly strained Chaplin's relationship with the distributors. He would leave yet another company to continue in his evermore-ambitious efforts. Jeffrey Vance, in "Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema", makes an interesting observation: he points out that Chaplin plays an escaped prisoner in both his last Mutual film, "The Adventurer", and in this film, his last First National release. They both reflect the filmmaker's escape from confining contracts.

There's some light satire on a religious community and parody of Westerns, and Chaplin gets plenty of mileage out of the common mistaken identity device. I didn't find any of the gags particularly memorable, but the hilarity is sustained throughout the film. "The Pilgrim" is, as religion can be, uplifting.