One of the most inventive and accomplished of Chaplin’s short films, with the Little Tramp entering the Land of the Free via the daunting Ellis Island. The usual mixture of fun, pathos, and romance, with a sharp eye for social injustice that not everyone appreciated.
USA 1917, 20 minutes
Programme Notes
One of the most inventive and accomplished of Chaplin’s short films. The social comment, along with his failure to apply for US citizenship and to enlist for duty in World War I, didn’t go down well, although the scene where the Tramp kicks an official on Ellis Island probably raised cheers from the immigrants in the audience. The film was cited as damning evidence when J. Edgar Hoover forced Chaplin into exile during the paranoia of the 1950s.