The Kid
The Kid • 53m
Directed by Charles Chaplin • 1921 • United States
Charlie Chaplin was already an international star when he decided to break out of the short-film format and make his first full-length feature. THE KID doesn't merely show Chaplin at a turning point, when he proved that he was a serious film director, it remains an expressive masterwork of silent cinema. In it, he stars as his lovable Tramp character, this time raising an orphan (a remarkable young Jackie Coogan) he has rescued from the streets. Chaplin and Coogan make a miraculous pair in this nimble marriage of sentiment and slapstick, a film that is, as its opening title card states, “a picture with a smile, and perhaps, a tear.”
Up Next in The Kid
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THE KID Commentary
This audio commentary, featuring Charlie Chaplin scholar Charles Maland, was recorded in 2015.
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Jackie Coogan on THE KID
This interview with THE KID costar Jackie Coogan was originally recorded by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill for the 1980 British television series “Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film.”
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Lita Grey Chaplin on THE KID
In this interview, Lita Grey Chaplin recalls her role as the flirtatious angel in THE KID, the production of THE GOLD RUSH, and her eventual marriage to Charlie Chaplin at the age of sixteen. The interview was conducted by Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance in 1993.
