I consider The Pilgrim one of Chaplin's weaker efforts, in no small part because of the odd running time; somewhere between a short and a feature, it suffers from too much padding considering its slight story, and it's too short to fully develop the inter-relationships of the characters and plumb the depths of social satire that Chaplin's later features did so adeptly. I also found the character strangely at odds with Chaplin's persona-- someone who is forced to stifle his anti-social tendencies in service to his disguise as a clergyman. I could picture more of a misanthrope in the role, perhaps someone like W.C. Fields, especially in the scenes with the bothersome little kid. It somehow didn't work as well with Chaplin, whose own child-like ego would seem more akin, rather than counterpoint, to the little brat. And with the characters apparent sense of innate honesty, one wonders what he was incarcerated for in the first place. Some amusing set pieces but overall it seemed more of an experiment which Chaplin felt license to indulge in at the end of his First National contract.
Review of The Pilgrim
