A Chaplin film that's well worth watching, with plenty of clever gags, though it seems to me two scenarios bolted together rather than a well-integrated narrative. Regardless, it's one of Chaplin's better Mutual productions, and Edna Purviance is at her best in this role.
Now, to the point raised by my review title. The Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna / Lobster Films restoration released by Flicker Alley, Inc. in 2014 is the source for the following:
The oft-repeated claim "Chaplin kicked an Immigration/Customs employee" in 'The Immigrant' seems to never have been challenged or corrected. Whether the result of an honest misreading of the film or an intentional political smear, no such incident occurs in the film.
The scene in question starts at the 11:00 mark. The immigrants are still on board ship, waiting to disembark.
The ship's captain - who appeared earlier in a scene where he accused Charlie of being a pickpocket -- is sitting at a small desk with the passenger manifest in front of him. One of the crew members roughly corrals the immigrants with a long rope as if they were livestock. (This same crew member had earlier dished food to the immigrants while the boat rocked madly and bowls of soup slid from one side of the table to the other.)
Charlie reacts to being treated like cattle and kicks the crew member. A few moments later the crew member kicks Charlie in return.
Immigration/Customs officials make no appearance whatsoever in the film. The immigrants presumably will not encounter any officials until they reach the bottom of the gangplank, but we never see that as the scene ends before that point. All we see is the immigrants being checked off the passenger manifest by the captain of the ship and a crew member getting a well-deserved comeuppance.
I have no idea if Chaplin or his legal representation ever rebutted the government's spurious claim, but if they did, it doesn't seem to have ever become part of the public record.
Now, to the point raised by my review title. The Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna / Lobster Films restoration released by Flicker Alley, Inc. in 2014 is the source for the following:
The oft-repeated claim "Chaplin kicked an Immigration/Customs employee" in 'The Immigrant' seems to never have been challenged or corrected. Whether the result of an honest misreading of the film or an intentional political smear, no such incident occurs in the film.
The scene in question starts at the 11:00 mark. The immigrants are still on board ship, waiting to disembark.
The ship's captain - who appeared earlier in a scene where he accused Charlie of being a pickpocket -- is sitting at a small desk with the passenger manifest in front of him. One of the crew members roughly corrals the immigrants with a long rope as if they were livestock. (This same crew member had earlier dished food to the immigrants while the boat rocked madly and bowls of soup slid from one side of the table to the other.)
Charlie reacts to being treated like cattle and kicks the crew member. A few moments later the crew member kicks Charlie in return.
Immigration/Customs officials make no appearance whatsoever in the film. The immigrants presumably will not encounter any officials until they reach the bottom of the gangplank, but we never see that as the scene ends before that point. All we see is the immigrants being checked off the passenger manifest by the captain of the ship and a crew member getting a well-deserved comeuppance.
I have no idea if Chaplin or his legal representation ever rebutted the government's spurious claim, but if they did, it doesn't seem to have ever become part of the public record.