(Review originally written at 28 August 2007)
It's a sweet movie with some really sweet moments, thanks to Charlie Chaplin's character and of course the way he portrays him. Chaplin always has been great putting effective emotions in a purely comical movie. You always feel and sympathize for his little tramp character.
Interestingly enough Charles Chaplin himself in the '40's revived the movie with the addition of spoken dialog-, done by himself and sound. It's not always necessary, since the images themselves speak for their own but it's still interesting to experience because it makes clear what he himself initially always wanted us to see and hear.
It's a real Charlie Chaplin movie, also not in the least because he directed, wrote, composed, produced and edited but I mean especially of course his acting. His movements are particularly great but so are his overall comical acting skills. Not hard to see why he's regarded by many as the great movie comedian/entertainer of all time.
The story is a sweet one and it perfectly gives Chaplin the opportunity to show of his skills. Though admittedly I didn't like the first halve of the movie as much as the second. Somehow this always seems to be the case with silent comedies. The two parts also don't feel really jointed. The first part is most slapstick, while the second part is slapstick but with substance, with of course also the great and classic cabin ending.
Great must-see from the silent-era, both the original- and narrated version.
8/10
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