The Kid (1921 film)

The Kid

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Produced by Charlie Chaplin
Written by Charlie Chaplin
Starring
Music by Charlie Chaplin (1971 re-release)
Cinematography R. H. Totheroh
Edited by Charlie Chaplin
Production
company
Distributed by First National
Release dates
  • January 21, 1921 (1921-01-21) (Premiere)
  • February 6, 1921 (1921-02-06)
Running time
  • 68 minutes[1](original cut)
  • 53 minutes[2] (1971 re-release)
Country United States
Language
Budget $250,000
Box office $2.5 million[3][4]

The Kid is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film written by, produced by, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin, and features Jackie Coogan[5] as his adopted son and sidekick. This was Chaplin's first full-length film as a director (he had been a co-star in 1914's Tillie's Punctured Romance). It was a huge success, and was the second-highest-grossing film in 1921, behind The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In 2011, The Kid was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Innovative in its combination of comedic and dramatic elements,[6] The Kid is widely considered one of the greatest films of the silent era.[7]

Plot

An unwed woman (Edna Purviance) leaves a charity hospital carrying her newborn son. An artist (Carl Miller), the apparent father, is shown with the woman's photograph. When it falls into the fireplace, he first picks it up, then throws it back in to burn up. The woman decides to abandon her child in the back seat of an expensive automobile with a handwritten note imploring the finder to care for and love the baby. However, the car is stolen. When the two thieves discover the child, they leave him on the street. The Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) finds the baby. Unwilling at first to take on the responsibility, he eventually softens and names the boy John. Elsewhere, the woman has an apparent change of heart and returns for the baby, but is heartbroken and faints upon learning of the baby being taken away.

Five years pass, and the child (Jackie Coogan) becomes the Tramp's partner in minor crime, throwing stones to break windows that the Tramp, working as a glazier, can then repair. Meanwhile, the woman becomes a wealthy star. She does charity work among the poor to fill the void of her missing child. By chance, the mother and child cross paths, but do not recognize each other. When the boy becomes sick, a doctor comes to see him. He discovers that the Tramp is not the boy's father. The Tramp shows him the note left by the mother, but the doctor merely takes it and notifies the authorities. Two men come to take the boy to an orphanage, but after a fight and a chase, the Tramp regains his boy. When the woman comes back to see how the boy is doing, the doctor tells her what has happened, then shows her the note, which she recognizes.

Now fugitives, the Tramp and the boy spend the night in a flophouse, but the manager (Bergman), having read of the $1000 reward (worth $13,487.60 in 2016) offered for the child, takes him to the police station to be united with his ecstatic mother. When the Tramp wakes up, he searches frantically for the missing boy, then returns to doze beside the now-locked doorway to their humble home. In his sleep, he enters "Dreamland," with angels in residence and devilish interlopers. He is awakened by a policeman, who places the Tramp in a car and rides with him to a house. When the door opens, the woman and John emerge, reuniting the elated adoptive father and son. The policeman, who is happy for the family, shakes the Tramp's hand and leaves, before the woman welcomes the Tramp into her home.

Cast

Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in a publicity photo for The Kid
Uncredited

Production

Chaplin, at left, wrote, produced, directed, edited, and starred in the film, and later went on to compose the music score as well.

The Kid is notable for combining comedy and drama. As the opening title says: "A picture with a smile-and perhaps, a tear." The most famous and enduring sequence in the film is the Tramp's desperate rooftop pursuit of the agents from the orphanage who had taken the child, and their emotional reunion.

The film made Coogan, then a vaudeville performer, into the first major child star of the movies. Many of the Chaplin biographers have attributed the relationship portrayed in the film to have resulted from the death of Chaplin's firstborn infant son just ten days before the production began.[8] The portrayal of poverty and the cruelty of welfare workers are also directly reminiscent of Chaplin's own childhood in London. Several of the street scenes were filmed on Los Angeles's famed Olvera Street, almost 10 years before it was converted into a Mexican-themed tourist attraction.

"The Kid" being taken away by agents from the orphanage.

After production was completed in 1920, the film was caught up in the divorce actions of Chaplin's first wife Mildred Harris, who sought to attach Chaplin's assets. Chaplin and his associates smuggled the raw negative to Salt Lake City (reportedly packed in coffee cans) and edited the film in a room at the Hotel Utah.[9] Before releasing the film Chaplin negotiated for and received an enhanced financial deal for the film with his distributor, First National Corporation, based on the success of the final film.

Lita Grey, who portrays an angel in the film, was Chaplin's second wife from 1924 to 1927.

In 1971, Chaplin edited and reissued the film and he composed a new musical score.

Chaplin and co-star Coogan met for the last time in 1972, during Chaplin's brief return to America for an Honorary Academy Award.

Legacy

Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance writes, of the legacy of Chaplin's The Kid: "The Kid remains an important contribution to the art of film, not only because of Chaplin’s innovative use of dramatic sequences within a feature-length comedy, but also because of the revelations The Kid provides about its creator. Undoubtedly, when Chaplin penned the preface to The Kid, “A picture with a smile--and perhaps, a tear,” he had his own artistic credo—and life—in mind."[10] Mary Pickford said of the film, "The Kid is one of the finest examples of the screen language, depending upon its actions rather than upon subtitles".[11]

In December 2011, The Kid was chosen to be preserved in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.[12] The Registry said that the film is "an artful melding of touching drama, social commentary and inventive comedy" and praised Chaplin's ability to "sustain his artistry beyond the length of his usual short subjects and could deftly elicit a variety of emotions from his audiences by skillfully blending slapstick and pathos."[12]

As of March 2015, The Kid has earned a rare 100% perfect rating on film review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes[13] and an 8.4 user rating on the Internet Movie Database, placing it at number 95 on the site's Top 250 Titles.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "THE KID (U) (CUT)". British Board of Film Classification. January 5, 1922. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  2. ↑ "THE KID (U)". British Board of Film Classification. October 15, 1957. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  3. ↑ Ramsaye, Terry, ed. (1938). "The All Time Best Sellers". 1937-38 International Motion Picture Almanac. New York: Quigley Publishing Company. p. 942. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  4. ↑ Jones, Lon (4 March 1944). "Which cinema films have earned the most money since 1914?". The Argus. Melbourne, Vic. p. 3. Supplement: The Argus Weekend magazine. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  5. ↑ "Today in Media History: Thumbs Up? In 1921 newspapers reviewed Charlie Chaplin's movie, 'The Kid'". Poynter. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ Chaplin, pp. 233–234.
  7. ↑ 300 Greatest Films by Decade - AMC Filmsite Retrieved 8 February 2015
  8. ↑ Kamin, Dan (2008-09-05). The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion. Scarecrow Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780810877818.
  9. ↑ "Charlie Chaplin Can't Dodge Newspaper Men". Deseret News. 9 August 1920. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  10. ↑ Vance, Jeffrey (2003). Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema. New York: Harry N. Abrams, pg. 117. ISBN 0-8109-4532-0.
  11. ↑ Howe, Herbert (January 1924). "Mary Pickford's Favorite Stars and Films". Photoplay. New York: Photoplay Publishing Company. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  12. 1 2 "2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates" (Press release). Library of Congress. 28 December 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
  13. ↑ The Kid at Rotten Tomatoes
  14. ↑ "IMDb Top 250". IMDb. Retrieved 2014-08-18.
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