The Kid (1921)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Release Date:

6 February 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

This is the great film he has been working on for a whole year

Plot:

The Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put that relationship in jeopardy.

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Orphan | Child | Mother Son Relationship | Auto Theft

Cast

Carl Miller	...	The Man
Edna Purviance	...	Mother
Jackie Coogan	...	The Kid (as Jack Coogan)
Charles Chaplin	...	A Tramp (as Charlie Chaplin)

Runtime:

68 min | 50 min (1971 edit with new Chaplin score) | Germany:54 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (new music score) (1971) | Silent

Certification:

Spain:T | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Denmark:7 (2003) | Norway:A | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | West Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

For the scene in which the Kid is taken from the Tramp and nearly carted away to a workhouse, Charles Chaplin stated in his autobiography that the young Jackie Coogan was made to cry by his father, who told him that if he would not cry in the scene, he would be sent to an actual workhouse.

Goofs:

Continuity: When The Tramp finds the baby while sitting in the sidewalk, he leaves his stick by his right side. After the shot of the baby's mother's letter, there is no stick by Tramp's side, and after another shot, it appears again and in a different position.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Patrasche: A Dog of Flanders, Made in Japan (2007)

Pathos And Comedy

Due to an unwed mother abandoning her child in an automobile and said automobile being subsequently hijacked, The Little Tramp winds up with the baby and proceeds to raise it in its first five years.

In reading Charlie Chaplin's memoirs I learned two things about the making of The Kid. First he had to get child star Jackie Coogan away from Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle under whom the lad was contracted. Chaplin saw him and was determined to make a film with him. The second thing was Chaplin's determination to make a film that combined both pathos and comedy which many said could not be done.

The success of The Kid is due to the chemistry established between Chaplin and Coogan. As Chaplin said in his memoirs young children in their uninhibited way are natural actors. Part of the chemistry though is to make sure they don't totally steal the film from you.

The Tramp gets his innings in with The Kid. He's the same rapscallion Tramp we all know, but The Kid showed another side of The Tramp, one of deep feeling and protectiveness. Two people who need and love each other very much. This film couldn't miss.

First National Pictures sure thought so as it became part of a three way tug of war between Chaplin, the studio, and his estranged wife Mildred Harris. The Robert Downey, Jr. biographical film Chaplin illustrates that whole bit of business where Charlie smuggled out the negative of The Kid and took it on the lam across state lines. He edited it and was able to get it back to First National as a finished product on his own terms. That whole business probably would make a good movie unto itself.

Till that one is made see and enjoy the Tramp and the future Uncle Fester in The Kid.