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"The Pilgrim" 163
then on all his films were to be handled by United Artists.
"The Pilgrim" is a short feature — four reels in length. Not so well remembered as "Shoulder Arms" and "The Kid," it is one of Chaplin's masterpieces. It is highly characteristic of Chaplin, full of his irreverent nosethumbing at pomp and convention, in an expansive nothing-is-sacred mood. Not as hilarious as "Shoulder Arms" and lacking the sentiment of "The Kid" the picture, nevertheless, has considerable comedy and tenderness. The chief butts of its satire are rural types and small-town puritanism.
Here again Chaplin reveals his minute observation and perfect mimicry. Just as in earlier pictures he was a super-policeman, super-fireman, or super-doughboy, here, as an escaped convict in ministerial disguise, he becomes a super-clergyman, assuming all the mannerisms of the typical minister in a clever caricature. Trade critics at the preview worried over the reaction of the church-going public. Again their worries proved unfounded. It was taken goodhumoredly and was generally popular. The strict Pennsylvania censors alone barred "The Pilgrim" because "it made the ministry look ridiculous."
At least three of its scenes equal anything Chaplin did: the famous pantomime sermon on David and Goliath, the encounter with the obnoxious boy (played by Dinky Dean, son of "Chuck" Riesner), and the concluding booting across the Mexican border.
Charlie, escaping from prison, borrows the clothes of a minister who is in swimming. At the railroad station he studies the list of towns, wondering where to go. Shutting his eyes, he decides to buy a ticket for whatever town his pin hits. His first try lands him in Sing Sing; his second try in a neighbor who is also studying the board; his third try in Devil's Gulch for which he buys a ticket.