Solution to gameplay freezing in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune on PS3 Slim?

I found an answer (or maybe "work-around" better describes it). I tried the suggestion jwaddell made and was still encountering the freezes. Working off a suggestion I saw on the official Playstation forums, I disabled subtitles and game hints from the Options menu. I also had been running straight up the stairs and looking to the left (you see a murder of crows sitting on the floor if you look left).

So, with subtitles and game hints disabled, I ran halfway up the stairs, pulled out my AK-47 and strafed up facing right. Lo and behold, there was a shotgun MOB waiting for me. I dispatched him with a well-placed headshot and then moved out through the doorway. No freeze!

I am not sure whether the freezing was triggered by the subtitles, the game hints, or glitchy AI becoming over-excited at the prospect of shooting me in the back of the head unawares. In any event, I'm now past the customs house, have re-enabled game hints and subtitles and am mercifully freeze-free thus far.

It's possible that the problem is with data that has been installed on the PS3's hard drive, rather than the disc. Use the PS3's Game Data Utility to delete files for Uncharted in the Game Data folder (the Save Data folder will contain your game saves so don't delete anything in that). You'll need to re-install and re-patch but hopefully it will fix the problem.