Review #1,180: 'The Kid' (1921)

Back in 1921, the idea of a feature-length comedy was practically unheard of, with the general consensus amongst the big studios was that it would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, for a comedy to hold an audience's interest for a long period of time. English writer, director, star and all-round comic revolutionary Charlie Chaplin had other ideas. After being warned against making a war comedy by First National Pictures, Chaplin's Shoulder Arms (1918) was a huge success, and the former vaudeville performer requested more money for his next picture. They refused, and frustrated at the studio's preference for quantity over quality, Chaplin left to form United Artists with Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks, putting the artists in control in what was a game-changing move for the industry.

With free reign to develop his craft in his own time and without the pressures of studio heads looking over his shoulder, Chaplin created his most personal work to date, and one of the finest silent movies ever made. Masterfully combining social observation, slapstick comedy and gut-wrenching drama, The Kid opens with a single mother (Chaplin regular Edna Purviance), whose "only sin is motherhood," leaving hospital with a newborn baby in her arms. Fearing societal attitudes towards being a single parent, she leaves her baby in an expensive car, hoping that the rich owners can offer the child a better life. However, the car is stolen by a couple of mobsters, who dump the babe in an alley to be discovered by the Tramp (Chaplin). The lovable scamp tries to give the newborn away at first, before deciding to raise him on his own. Naming him John, the kid grows up to become the Tramp's partner-in-crime, as his mother, now a famous movie star, fills the void in her life by giving away charity to orphans in need.

It's obvious that Chaplin knew he was onto a winner with The Kid. The preface labels it as "a picture with a smile -- and perhaps, a tear," and audiences have been laughing and crying with it ever since. The early scenes depicting the Tramp and the Kid partnering up to fuel their window-fitting business (the youngster smashes the windows while his adopted father just happens to be walking past with a backpack full of glass panels) cements their unique bond. This builds to the movie's most celebrated moment, in which Chaplin runs across rooftops to search for the child taken away from him by child services. The image of Jackie Coogan, Hollywood's first child star, screaming for his father is now one of the most iconic moments in cinema history, and if it doesn't bring a lump to your throat, you may wish to check yourself for a pulse. While it does go slightly overboard with the sentiment, it only goes to show that Chaplin knew exactly how to pull a reaction out of his audience. The Kid was recently entered into the National Film Registry, and deservedly so. At only 50 minutes, it managed to change the face of cinema forever.


Directed by: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance, Carl Miller
Country: USA

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie