What a Great Kid!

There is perhaps no better synopsis of Charlie Chaplin’s first full length feature film, 1921’s The Kid, than that provided by the filmmaker himself. As the motion picture begins, we read the Title Card: “A picture with a smile – and perhaps, a tear”.

Already an international superstar at the time, Chaplin decided to give his iconic character of The Tramp a full length feature. Taking five and a half months to shoot the film, it once again reiterates just how much of a perfectionist the man was (as movies during this time were nearly never granted this sort of shooting schedule). Similarly, like the rest of his projects, Chaplin writes, directs, produces, acts in and composes the music for this one.

The loveable vagabond that is The Tramp (Chaplin) this time finds himself with a baby in hand. A Woman (Edna Purviance), having had a child out of wedlock and with nowhere to turn, leaves her newborn in a wealthy family’s car – hoping that they will adopt it. In a piece of unfortunate happenstance, the car is stolen by a pair of criminals. Dumping the baby at the first possible chance, The Tramp then stumbles upon it in a filthy alleyway.

At first, he tries to return the baby to a passing mother, but soon learns that the little one has no home. Finding a letter explaining the Woman’s situation, he adopts the boy – doing the best he can.

Flashing forward five years, we see the clever, albeit immoral ways in which the duo find work in this complicated, melancholic world. Though we may question these actions, what is clear is that The Tramp has done an excellent job raising his adopted Child (Jackie Coogan). There is a heartwarming bond between the two, and he always finds ways to put lots of food on the table (even though it is often the boy who is doing the cooking).

The Woman, who once had no options, has now become a wealthy star. Still left woeful by her tough decision all those years ago, she now makes rounds throughout the impoverished areas of the city, giving children toys and money to help make their lives a little better. Meeting The Child in the slummy streets (but not recognizing him), she realizes that the boy needs a doctor. The MD arrives only to discover the squalor that the boy is living in (and learns that The Tramp is not truly his father – after seeing the note he found on the baby all those years ago). Notifying the authorities, workers from an orphanage attempt to take the boy from The Tramp. After quite the struggle, he is able to rescue the child, and they begin to live as outlaws. Will the pair be able dodge those looking for them, or will they be forever separated?

In many ways, this film resembles the difficult childhood Chaplin had (a destitute family, a boy sometimes forced to live on the streets, the vile cruelty of welfare workers). Chaplin was sent to the workhouses at seven years old. This movie provides an interesting bookend to a later piece of his, 1952’s Limelight, which similarly takes a very personal look at the ups and downs of his career. By combining the two, we get a birdseye view of the tumultuous life of one of the greatest talents to ever grace the silver screen.

As an interesting sidenote, Chaplin was going through a divorce while making The Kid. Having lost his first child with wife Mildred Harris (their malformed son, named Norman Spencer Chaplin, died at three days of age), it is clear that the filmmaker concocted his next project to help him deal with the difficult situation. He formed a powerful bond with Coogan – and it can be surmised that this would have helped him find some solace. Another tidbit finds Chaplin’s second wife, Lita Grey, playing a temptress angel (they were married from 1924-1927) in the dream sequence. Funnily enough, Chaplin smuggled the film negatives out of Hollywood (allegedly in coffee cans), knowing that his wife was trying to add it to his list of assets (during their divorce) – thereby delaying the release of the motion picture. Editing it in a hotel room in Salt Lake City, Utah, he then held out until First National Corporation provided him with the terms he wanted (they were trying to pay him the rate he would receive for his two-reel shorts – approximately five hundred thousand). In the end, he received the proper 1.5 million, as well as several other stipulations that he wanted (profits from rentals and that he also regained propriety of the film after five years).

The name Jackie Coogan may trigger something in your mind. Though he was the first child star of the silent era, he is perhaps best known today as playing the follicly challenged Uncle Fester on the iconic 1960s television series, The Addams Family. Keep an eye open for the pickpocket sleeping next to Chaplin in the flophouse, as well as the Devil in The Tramp’s dream, and a party guest, as the child star’s father, Jack Coogan Sr., plays all three of them. Actually, Coogan Sr. and Jr. were vaudeville performers – which is where Chaplin found the boy. To appease the elder Coogan, who had to put his career on hold, he paid the man $125 a week, fifty more than Jackie was making.

A true innovator of the industry, Chaplin brought to fruition the idea that comedy could be mixed with drama (something not done prior to this). This would echo throughout every other film he would make for the rest of his life, capturing both the laughter, love, melancholy and pain that is found in the world – leaving nearly one hundred years of viewers with countless smiles and a poignancy that is hard to replicate. This is best captured by the lengths The Tramp goes to in order to recapture his beloved Child. Battling multiple foes, climbing over rooftops, and jumping onto trucks to achieve his goal, the love demonstrated in his actions, and the emotional pleas found on Coogan’s overwrought visage, illustrates the power of film (highlighting that dialogue is not needed to feel sentiment).

One of the most important films ever made, The Kid demonstrates the genius of Chaplin – though in some ways, it is little Coogan who steals the show, matching the master’s movements and expressive actions time and time again. This magnificent piece of film history does much more than bring out the kid in all of us. So, prepare to smile, and perhaps shed a tear, when you watch this classic silent film that perfectly captures the power of love.