1923's "The Pilgrim" put an end to a significant chapter of Chaplin's career. It was the last silent short film he did after his career centered around these for almost a decade, easily the most prolific phase of his life. In the 20 years afterward, he directed all his notable full feature films he is most know for these days. With "The Pilgrim", Chaplin surely went out on a high note. It's one of his longest short films and also the last one with his long-time partner Edna Purviance. It was almost too long for his own good. He never really managed the perfect balance between drama and comedy here, one of the strongest achievements in his feature films. It occasionally drags, but all in all it's not bad. Of course it has its moments, like Chaplin looking at the girl and then in his very own shy fashion into the camera when he's going through albums with the old lady. The flower-picking ending is truly hilarious as well. And there's quite some significance to the ending about Charlie and film entering new territories (Mexico) with the rising significance of sound. Decent job from everybody involved and it's even better if you watch the restored version including Matt Munro's beautiful rendition of "Bound for Texas" and a pretty good score beyond that too.
Review of The Pilgrim
