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IMDbPro

The Kid

  • 19211921
  • PassedPassed
  • 1h 8m
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
125K
YOUR RATING
Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid (1921)
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Family
The Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.The Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.The Tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy.
IMDb RATING
8.3/10
125K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Charles Chaplin
  • Writer
    • Charles Chaplin
  • Stars
    • Charles Chaplin
    • Edna Purviance
    • Jackie Coogan
Top credits
  • Director
    • Charles Chaplin
  • Writer
    • Charles Chaplin
  • Stars
    • Charles Chaplin
    • Edna Purviance
    • Jackie Coogan
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 232User reviews
    • 115Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Top rated movie #129
    • Awards
      • 2 wins

    Photos85

    Charles Chaplin and Lita Grey in The Kid (1921)
    Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid (1921)
    Charles Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, and Tom Wilson in The Kid (1921)
    Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in The Kid (1921)
    Charles Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, and Tom Wilson in The Kid (1921)
    The Kid (1921)
    The Kid (1921)
    The Kid (1921)
    The Kid (1921)
    The Kid (1921)
    The Kid (1921)
    The Kid (1921)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Charles Chaplin
    Charles Chaplin
    • A Trampas A Tramp
    • (as Charlie Chaplin)
    Edna Purviance
    Edna Purviance
    • The Womanas The Woman
    Jackie Coogan
    Jackie Coogan
    • The Childas The Child
    • (as Jack Coogan)
    Carl Miller
    Carl Miller
    • The Manas The Man
    Albert Austin
    Albert Austin
    • Car Thiefas Car Thief
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Beulah Bains
    • Brideas Bride
    • (uncredited)
    Nellie Bly Baker
    • Slum Nurseas Slum Nurse
    • (uncredited)
    Henry Bergman
    • Professor Guidoas Professor Guido
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Edward Biby
    Edward Biby
    • Orphan Asylum Driveras Orphan Asylum Driver
    • (uncredited)
    B.F. Blinn
    B.F. Blinn
    • His Assistantas His Assistant
    • (uncredited)
    Kitty Bradbury
    • Bride's Motheras Bride's Mother
    • (uncredited)
    Frank Campeau
    Frank Campeau
    • Welfare Officeras Welfare Officer
    • (uncredited)
    Bliss Chevalier
    • Extra in Wedding Sceneas Extra in Wedding Scene
    • (uncredited)
    Frances Cochran
    • Extra in Reception Sceneas Extra in Reception Scene
    • (uncredited)
    Elsie Codd
    • Extra in Alley Sceneas Extra in Alley Scene
    • (uncredited)
    Jack Coogan Sr.
    • Pickpocketas Pickpocket
    • (uncredited)
    • …
    Estelle Cook
    • Extra in Wedding Sceneas Extra in Wedding Scene
    • (uncredited)
    Lillian Crane
    • Extra in Wedding Sceneas Extra in Wedding Scene
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Charles Chaplin
    • Writer
      • Charles Chaplin
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was Sir Charles Chaplin's first feature length film he directed.
    • Goofs
      On the rooftop, after the Tramp chases the two welfare workers who have captured and tormented John, the scene ends with the Tramp and one of the workers fighting on the back of the workers' pickup truck. After kicking the second welfare man off the back of the pickup, the Tramp makes a 'nonsensical' wave good-bye as he and John ride off to momentary safety. In reality Charles Chaplin (also the director) is waving 'CUT' to cameraman Roland Totheroh.
    • Quotes

      Title Card: A picture with a smile - and perhaps, a tear.

    • Alternate versions
      A new version was reissued in 1972 with a new music score composed by Charles Chaplin, who also re-edited the film in order to omit a few scenes featuring the kid's mother.
    • Connections
      Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)

    User reviews232

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Charlie Finds a Son
    THE KID (First National Pictures, 1921), a comedy-drama written, directed and starring Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977), plays an important part his screen career. Aside from Chaplin cast opposite Marie Dressler in TILLIE'S PUNCTURED ROMANCE (1914), a Mack Sennett production hailed as the first feature length comedy, THE KID starts Chaplin with a whole new cycle of feature comedies, but releases coming once every two to three years. A comic genius who got his start in comedy shorts starting in 1914, eventually under the supervision and direction of himself, Chaplin's methods in movie making improved with each passing film. Like himself, Jackie Coogan, Chaplin's littlest co-star and title character, made such an impression with his initial performance, nearly upstaging his impresario, that he immediately found himself starring in movies on his own, becoming Hollywood's first important child star.

    THE KID starts off with inter-titles, "A picture with a smile and perhaps a tear," followed by "The woman whose sin was motherhood," titles much to the liking of a D.W. Griffith directorial tearjerker starring Lillian Gish, yet, in fact, might have seemed more logical for a Griffith film than Chaplin's, whose very name personifies comedy. A young girl (Edna Purviance) leaves a charity hospital with a baby in her arms. who turns out to be an unwed mother whose father (Carl Miller), a young artist, never returns to her life. The mother places her baby in the back of a limousine and walks away. Crooks enter the scene, stealing the car, discover the baby and place it in a trash bin in the poor district of town. Noticing the infant wrapped in a blanket, Charlie tries to pass it off to someone else, but after stumbling upon a note which reads, "Please love and care for this orphan child," he decides to raise the child himself. Five years pass. The kid (whose name is believed to be John), now Charlie's adopted son and sidekick, start off each day with brand new adventures in raising money. As for the kid's mother, she's become "a star of great prominence," devoting her spare time with charitable work handing out gifts to the children of poor districts, where lives the kid. The paths of the kid and his mother meet on numerous occasions, unaware of each other's identities. When the kid becomes seriously ill and in need of immediate medical attention, a middle-aged country doctor, having discovered Charlie not the boy's true father, sends for the authorities from the County Orphan Asylum to take the child away.

    THE KID consists of many ingredients to make this an everlasting product, especially for a silent movie made so long ago. Chaplin, who constructs his gags to perfection, has one difficult scene that comes off naturally, this being where Charlie cuts out diapers from a sheet for the infant as he's lying beside him in a miniature hammock crying out for his milk. The baby immediately stops after Charlie directs the nipple attached to a coffee pot (a substitute for a baby bottle) back into his mouth. Another classic moment, on a serious nature, is when Charlie is being held back by authorities, being forced to watch his crying "son" taken away from him. Charlie breaks away and goes after the truck as he's being chased by a policeman from the slanted roof-tops. The close-up where father and son tearful reunite is as touching as anything ever captured on film.

    Chaplin and little Jackie (billed Jack Coogan in the opening credits) display their talents as both funny characters and dramatic actors. Little Jackie is especially cute as a miniature sized Chaplin, right down to his baggy pants. Chaplin giving one of his most sensitive performances, is so convincing that it doesn't take away his screen persona as the lovable funny tramp. From this point onward, he would become less characteristic as a slapstick comedian and more agreeable as an serious actor, at the same time, adding more plot, pathos and truly great comedy routines.

    As much as the present showing of THE KID barely reaches the one hour mark, Chaplin includes enough gags and pathos to make it work. The dream sequence where he finds himself in Heaven surrounded by angels might appear trite and unnecessary for some, but actually makes it essential to the plot which fits into the scene that follows.

    THE KID, which had been unavailable for public viewing for many years, was resurrected in the 1970s in revival movie houses with a brand new and wonderful orchestral score conducted by Chaplin himself in 1971. It would be nearly another decade for many to fully get to see and appreciate this little masterpiece when distributed to video cassette in 1989 as part of the Charlie Chaplin centennial collection, double billed along with a comedy short, THE IDLE CLASS (1921). In the DVD format, the two disc set includes rare out-takes and deleted scenes. Turner Classic Movies has brought forth THE KID as part of its movie library, where it made its debut December 15, 2003, during its weekly Silent Sunday Nights, hosted by Robert Osborne, and later in March 2004 when Charlie Chaplin was selected as its "Star of the Month."

    For its age, THE KID holds up extremely well, thanks to the convincing performances of both Chaplin and Coogan. There's no doubt Jackie Coogan (1914-1984) became an overnight star with this one film. He was a natural. While the paths of Chaplin and Coogan would never meet again, on screen anyway, without them, there would never have been such a true classic from the silent screen era as THE KID. (****)
    helpful•85
    11
    • lugonian
    • Oct 22, 2004

    FAQ1

    • A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 6, 1921 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Instagram
      • Official Site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Waif
    • Filming locations
      • Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Charles Chaplin Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $250,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $41,960
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 8 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Silent
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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