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The Kid (1921 film)

October 14, 2023

For other uses, see The Kid.

The Kid is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, and features Jackie Coogan[4] as his foundling baby, adopted son and sidekick. This was Chaplin's first full-length film as a director. It was a huge success and was the second-highest-grossing film in 1921.[5] Now considered one of the greatest films of the silent era,[6] in 2011 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.[7][8]

The Kid
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCharlie Chaplin
Written byCharlie Chaplin
Produced byCharlie Chaplin
Starring
CinematographyR. H. Totheroh
Edited byCharlie Chaplin
Music byCharlie Chaplin (1972 re-release)
Production
company
Distributed byFirst 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] (1972 re-release)
CountryUnited States
Languages
Budget$250,000
Box office$5,450,000[3]

Plot Edit

With much anguish, an unwed Mother abandons her child, placing him in an expensive automobile with a handwritten note: "Please love and care for this orphan child". Two thieves steal the car and leave the baby in an alley, where he is found by The Tramp. After some attempts to hand off the child on to various passers-by, he finds the note and his heart melts. He takes the boy home, names him John and adjusts his household furniture for him. Meanwhile, the Mother has a change of heart and returns for her baby; when she learns that the car has been stolen, she faints.

Five years pass. The Kid and the Tramp live in the same tiny room; they have little money but much love. They support themselves in a minor scheme: the Kid throws stones to break windows so that the Tramp, working as a glazier, can be paid to repair them. Meanwhile, the Mother has become a wealthy actress and does charity by giving presents to poor children. By chance, as she does so, the Mother and the Kid unknowingly cross paths.

The Kid later gets into a fight with another local boy as people in the area gather to watch the spectacle. The Kid wins, drawing the ire of the other boy's older brother, who attacks the Tramp as a result. The Mother breaks up the fight, but it starts again after she leaves and the Tramp keeps beating the "Big Brother" over the head with a brick between swings until he totters away.

Shortly afterward, the Mother advises the Tramp to call a doctor after the Kid falls ill. The doctor discovers that the Tramp is not the Kid's father and notifies authorities. Two men come to take the boy to an orphanage, but after a fight and a chase, the Tramp and the boy remain side by side. When the Mother comes back to see how the boy is doing she encounters the doctor, who shows her the note (which he had taken from the Tramp); she recognizes it as the one she left with her baby years ago.

Now fugitives, the Tramp and the boy spend the night in a flophouse. Its proprietor learns of a $1,000 reward offered by the authorities and takes the Kid to the police station, while the Tramp is asleep. As the tearful Mother is reunited with her long-lost child, the Tramp searches frantically for the missing boy. Unsuccessful, he returns to the doorway of their humble lodgings, where he falls asleep, entering a "Dreamland" where his neighbors have turned into angels and devils. A policeman awakes him and drives him off to a mansion. There the door is opened by the Mother and the Kid, who jumps into the Tramp's arms, and he is welcomed in.

Cast Edit

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

Production Edit

 
Business partners on the street

Chaplin wrote, produced, directed, edited and starred in The Kid, and later composed a score. Innovative in its combination of comedic and dramatic elements,[11] the film is considered one of the greatest of the silent era.[12] Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance maintains that, with its "perfect blend of comedy and drama, [it] is arguably Chaplin's most personal and autobiographical work.”[13]

The film made Coogan, then a vaudeville performer, into the first major child star of the movies. It has been speculated that the depth of the relationship portrayed in the film may have been connected with the death of Chaplin's firstborn infant son just ten days before the production began.[14]

 
"The Kid" pleading to be left with his "father", Chaplin

First National wanted to release the film as 3 two reel comedies, not a seven reel feature.[15] Chaplin wanted the film released as a complete work. Releasing it as 3 separate short films also meant First National owed Chaplin a much smaller salary.[16] 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 and edited it in a room at the Hotel Utah.[17] To release the complete film and avoid it being part of his divorce proceedings, Chaplin showed First National executives a cut of the film. He used this screening to re-negotiate his contract.[15] Before releasing the film, Chaplin negotiated to receive an enhanced financial deal based on the success of the final film. This included 50% of the box-office once First National's budget of $1.5 Million had been reached and full ownership returned to Chaplin after 5 years.[18]

Chaplin eventually removed scenes he believed too sentimental for modern audiences and composed and recorded a new musical score for the film's theatrical reissue. This re-edited version of The Kid had its world premiere as the Film Society of Lincoln Center gala tribute to Chaplin held on April 4, 1972, at Philharmonic Hall, New York City, with Chaplin in attendance.[19]

Reception Edit

The Kid premiered on January 21, 1921, at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a benefit for the Children's Fund of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.[13]

The Kid was acclaimed by film critics upon its release.[20] The February 5, 1921 issue of Exhibitor's Herald, contained a full-spread advertisement for the film playing at the Randolph Theatre. The advertisement from First National Pictures featured high praise from Chicago-based newspapers including this review from The Chicago Herald and Examiner:

The Kid settles once and for all the question as to who is the greatest theatrical artist in the world. Chaplin does some of the finest, most delicately shaded acting you ever saw anywhere, and for every slapstick furore in it there is a classic, exquisite scene. His action are riotous, convulsive, irresistible. The gentlest grandmother will bust a midriff. He's the best Hamlet alive today. Jackie Coogan is the best child actor you ever saw. Women wept just to see him. The Kid is two fisted. It's right glove is packed with the pearls of tears, its left with the horseshoe of laughter. The picture is perfection. Six reels that seem like one; six reels that are funnier than the work of any other human being; six reels that are sadder and simpler than anything in pictures; six reels that will atone for anything the movies have ever done.[21]

A reviewer from Theatre Magazine glowingly wrote: "[Chaplin's] new picture, The Kid, certainly outdoes in humor and the special brand of Chaplin pathos anything this popular film star has yet produced. There are almost as many tears as laughs in the new First National release--which proves the contention that Chaplin is almost as good a tragedian as he is a comedian. The Kid may be counted as a screen masterpiece." The reviewer for The New York Times gave more of a mixed reception to the film, writing: "Charlie Chaplin is himself again - at his best, in some ways better than his previous best, and also, it is to be regretted, at his worst, only not with so much of his worst as has spoiled some of his earlier pictures." The reviewer praises the plot, the comedy, the characters, and the "balance of sadness" with Chaplin being "more of a comedian than a clown", but writes that

the blemish on The Kid is the same that has marred many of Chaplin's other pictures - vulgarity, or coarseness. There is only a little of it in the present work, just two scenes that will be found particularly offensive by some. They are funny. That cannot be denied. One laughs at them, but many try not to, and are provoked with themselves and Chaplin for their laughing. This is not good. The laugh that offends good taste doesn't win. And these scenes would never be missed from The Kid. It has plenty of unadulterated fun to go far and long without them. Why can't Chaplin leave out such stuff? Why don't the exhibitors delete it?"[22]

Legacy Edit

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."[23] 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".[24]

The Kid

In December 2011, The Kid was chosen to be preserved in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.[25] The registry stated 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."[25]

As of January 2021, The Kid has earned a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 50 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.6/10. The website's critical consensus says: “Charles Chaplin's irascible Tramp is given able support from Jackie Coogan as The Kid in this slapstick masterpiece, balancing the guffaws with moments of disarming poignancy”.[26]

See also Edit

References Edit

  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. ^ Box office at IMDB accessed January 27, 2017
  4. ^ . Poynter. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  5. ^ Finler, Joel (1988). The Hollywood Story. London: Octopus Books. p. 276. ISBN 0-7064-2866-8.
  6. ^ 300 Greatest Films by Decade - AMC Filmsite
  7. ^ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  9. ^ Lochner, Jim (2018). The Music of Charlie Chaplin. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, pg. 327. ISBN 978-0-7864-9611-2.
  10. ^ "Research into genealogy of Jackie Coogan". Coogan Research Group. October 26, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  11. ^ Chaplin, pp. 233–234.
  12. ^ 300 Greatest Films by Decade - AMC Filmsite Retrieved February 8, 2015
  13. ^ a b https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/the_kid.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  14. ^ Kamin, Dan (September 5, 2008). The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion. Scarecrow Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780810877818.
  15. ^ a b Chaplin, Charles (1964). My Autobiography. London: Simon and Schuster. p. 246.
  16. ^ Chaplin, C. My Autobiography loc. cit.
  17. ^ "Charlie Chaplin Can't Dodge Newspaper Men". Deseret News. August 9, 1920. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  18. ^ loc.cit.
  19. ^ Phillips, McCandish (April 4, 1972) [4 April 1972]. "Chaplin Returns With Silent-Film Style". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  20. ^ Passafiume, Andrea. "The Kid (1921)". Turner Classic Movies, Inc. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  21. ^ "Exhibitors Herald - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library". lantern.mediahist.org. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  22. ^ "THE SCREEN". The New York Times. January 22, 1921. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  23. ^ Vance, Jeffrey (2003). Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema. New York: Harry N. Abrams, pg. 117. ISBN 0-8109-4532-0.
  24. ^ Howe, Herbert (January 1924). "Mary Pickford's Favorite Stars and Films". Photoplay. New York: Photoplay Publishing Company. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  25. ^ a b "2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates" (Press release). Library of Congress. December 28, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
  26. ^ "The Kid (1921)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 4, 2022.

External links Edit

 
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The Kid (film)

October 14, 2023
1921, film, other, uses, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, 1921, film, news, newspapers, books, schola. For other uses see The Kid This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Kid 1921 film news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Kid is a 1921 American silent comedy drama film written produced directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin and features Jackie Coogan 4 as his foundling baby adopted son and sidekick This was Chaplin s first full length film as a director It was a huge success and was the second highest grossing film in 1921 5 Now considered one of the greatest films of the silent era 6 in 2011 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress 7 8 The KidTheatrical release posterDirected byCharlie ChaplinWritten byCharlie ChaplinProduced byCharlie ChaplinStarringCharlie Chaplin Jackie Coogan Edna PurvianceCinematographyR H TotherohEdited byCharlie ChaplinMusic byCharlie Chaplin 1972 re release ProductioncompanyCharles Chaplin ProductionsDistributed byFirst NationalRelease datesJanuary 21 1921 1921 01 21 Premiere February 6 1921 1921 02 06 Running time68 minutes 1 original cut 53 minutes 2 1972 re release CountryUnited StatesLanguagesSilent English intertitlesBudget 250 000Box office 5 450 000 3 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Reception 5 Legacy 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksPlot EditWith much anguish an unwed Mother abandons her child placing him in an expensive automobile with a handwritten note Please love and care for this orphan child Two thieves steal the car and leave the baby in an alley where he is found by The Tramp After some attempts to hand off the child on to various passers by he finds the note and his heart melts He takes the boy home names him John and adjusts his household furniture for him Meanwhile the Mother has a change of heart and returns for her baby when she learns that the car has been stolen she faints Five years pass The Kid and the Tramp live in the same tiny room they have little money but much love They support themselves in a minor scheme the Kid throws stones to break windows so that the Tramp working as a glazier can be paid to repair them Meanwhile the Mother has become a wealthy actress and does charity by giving presents to poor children By chance as she does so the Mother and the Kid unknowingly cross paths The Kid later gets into a fight with another local boy as people in the area gather to watch the spectacle The Kid wins drawing the ire of the other boy s older brother who attacks the Tramp as a result The Mother breaks up the fight but it starts again after she leaves and the Tramp keeps beating the Big Brother over the head with a brick between swings until he totters away Shortly afterward the Mother advises the Tramp to call a doctor after the Kid falls ill The doctor discovers that the Tramp is not the Kid s father and notifies authorities Two men come to take the boy to an orphanage but after a fight and a chase the Tramp and the boy remain side by side When the Mother comes back to see how the boy is doing she encounters the doctor who shows her the note which he had taken from the Tramp she recognizes it as the one she left with her baby years ago Now fugitives the Tramp and the boy spend the night in a flophouse Its proprietor learns of a 1 000 reward offered by the authorities and takes the Kid to the police station while the Tramp is asleep As the tearful Mother is reunited with her long lost child the Tramp searches frantically for the missing boy Unsuccessful he returns to the doorway of their humble lodgings where he falls asleep entering a Dreamland where his neighbors have turned into angels and devils A policeman awakes him and drives him off to a mansion There the door is opened by the Mother and the Kid who jumps into the Tramp s arms and he is welcomed in Cast Edit nbsp Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in a publicity photo for The KidCharlie Chaplin as The Tramp Jackie Coogan as the Kid John Edna Purviance as the Woman John s mother Carl Miller as the Man John s father UncreditedTom Wilson as the Policeman Henry Bergman as night shelter keeper Professor Guido fat neighborhood man apostle Peter Charles Reisner as neighborhood bully angel s lover Raymond Lee as bully s little brother Lita Grey as flirtatious angel in Dreamland scene Jules Hanft as the country doctor Frank Campeau as welfare officer 9 F Blinn as welfare officer s assistant Jack H Coogan Jr 10 as Pickpocket Guest Devil Granville Redmond as the Man s friend May White as the Woman s maid apartment owner with broken window Silas Merric Hathaway as the infant Kid Albert Austin as man in shelter the car thief Devil Esther Ralston as angel in the heaven scene Arthur Thalasso as the car thief with gun DevilProduction Edit nbsp Business partners on the streetChaplin wrote produced directed edited and starred in The Kid and later composed a score Innovative in its combination of comedic and dramatic elements 11 the film is considered one of the greatest of the silent era 12 Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance maintains that with its perfect blend of comedy and drama it is arguably Chaplin s most personal and autobiographical work 13 The film made Coogan then a vaudeville performer into the first major child star of the movies It has been speculated that the depth of the relationship portrayed in the film may have been connected with the death of Chaplin s firstborn infant son just ten days before the production began 14 nbsp The Kid pleading to be left with his father ChaplinFirst National wanted to release the film as 3 two reel comedies not a seven reel feature 15 Chaplin wanted the film released as a complete work Releasing it as 3 separate short films also meant First National owed Chaplin a much smaller salary 16 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 and edited it in a room at the Hotel Utah 17 To release the complete film and avoid it being part of his divorce proceedings Chaplin showed First National executives a cut of the film He used this screening to re negotiate his contract 15 Before releasing the film Chaplin negotiated to receive an enhanced financial deal based on the success of the final film This included 50 of the box office once First National s budget of 1 5 Million had been reached and full ownership returned to Chaplin after 5 years 18 Chaplin eventually removed scenes he believed too sentimental for modern audiences and composed and recorded a new musical score for the film s theatrical reissue This re edited version of The Kid had its world premiere as the Film Society of Lincoln Center gala tribute to Chaplin held on April 4 1972 at Philharmonic Hall New York City with Chaplin in attendance 19 Reception EditThe Kid premiered on January 21 1921 at Carnegie Hall in New York City as a benefit for the Children s Fund of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures 13 The Kid was acclaimed by film critics upon its release 20 The February 5 1921 issue of Exhibitor s Herald contained a full spread advertisement for the film playing at the Randolph Theatre The advertisement from First National Pictures featured high praise from Chicago based newspapers including this review from The Chicago Herald and Examiner The Kid settles once and for all the question as to who is the greatest theatrical artist in the world Chaplin does some of the finest most delicately shaded acting you ever saw anywhere and for every slapstick furore in it there is a classic exquisite scene His action are riotous convulsive irresistible The gentlest grandmother will bust a midriff He s the best Hamlet alive today Jackie Coogan is the best child actor you ever saw Women wept just to see him The Kid is two fisted It s right glove is packed with the pearls of tears its left with the horseshoe of laughter The picture is perfection Six reels that seem like one six reels that are funnier than the work of any other human being six reels that are sadder and simpler than anything in pictures six reels that will atone for anything the movies have ever done 21 A reviewer from Theatre Magazine glowingly wrote Chaplin s new picture The Kid certainly outdoes in humor and the special brand of Chaplin pathos anything this popular film star has yet produced There are almost as many tears as laughs in the new First National release which proves the contention that Chaplin is almost as good a tragedian as he is a comedian The Kid may be counted as a screen masterpiece The reviewer for The New York Times gave more of a mixed reception to the film writing Charlie Chaplin is himself again at his best in some ways better than his previous best and also it is to be regretted at his worst only not with so much of his worst as has spoiled some of his earlier pictures The reviewer praises the plot the comedy the characters and the balance of sadness with Chaplin being more of a comedian than a clown but writes thatthe blemish on The Kid is the same that has marred many of Chaplin s other pictures vulgarity or coarseness There is only a little of it in the present work just two scenes that will be found particularly offensive by some They are funny That cannot be denied One laughs at them but many try not to and are provoked with themselves and Chaplin for their laughing This is not good The laugh that offends good taste doesn t win And these scenes would never be missed from The Kid It has plenty of unadulterated fun to go far and long without them Why can t Chaplin leave out such stuff Why don t the exhibitors delete it 22 Legacy EditChaplin 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 23 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 24 source source source source The KidIn December 2011 The Kid was chosen to be preserved in the Library of Congress National Film Registry 25 The registry stated 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 25 As of January 2021 The Kid has earned a 100 rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 50 reviews with a weighted average of 8 6 10 The website s critical consensus says Charles Chaplin s irascible Tramp is given able support from Jackie Coogan as The Kid in this slapstick masterpiece balancing the guffaws with moments of disarming poignancy 26 See also EditList of United States comedy films List of films with a 100 rating on Rotten Tomatoes a film review aggregator websiteReferences Edit THE KID U CUT British Board of Film Classification January 5 1922 Retrieved December 23 2015 THE KID U British Board of Film Classification October 15 1957 Retrieved December 23 2015 Box office at IMDB accessed January 27 2017 Today in Media History Thumbs Up In 1921 newspapers reviewed Charlie Chaplin s movie The Kid Poynter Archived from the original on December 24 2015 Retrieved March 14 2016 Finler Joel 1988 The Hollywood Story London Octopus Books p 276 ISBN 0 7064 2866 8 300 Greatest Films by Decade AMC Filmsite Complete National Film Registry Listing Library of Congress Retrieved May 1 2020 2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates Library of Congress Retrieved July 2 2020 Lochner Jim 2018 The Music of Charlie Chaplin Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company pg 327 ISBN 978 0 7864 9611 2 Research into genealogy of Jackie Coogan Coogan Research Group October 26 2013 Retrieved February 11 2018 Chaplin pp 233 234 300 Greatest Films by Decade AMC Filmsite Retrieved February 8 2015 a b https www loc gov static programs national film preservation board documents the kid pdf bare URL PDF Kamin Dan September 5 2008 The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin Artistry in Motion Scarecrow Press p 92 ISBN 9780810877818 a b Chaplin Charles 1964 My Autobiography London Simon and Schuster p 246 Chaplin C My Autobiography loc cit Charlie Chaplin Can t Dodge Newspaper Men Deseret News August 9 1920 Retrieved August 18 2014 loc cit Phillips McCandish April 4 1972 4 April 1972 Chaplin Returns With Silent Film Style The New York Times p 1 Retrieved March 22 2023 Passafiume Andrea The Kid 1921 Turner Classic Movies Inc Retrieved January 10 2017 Exhibitors Herald Lantern Search Visualize amp Explore the Media History Digital Library lantern mediahist org Retrieved November 12 2021 THE SCREEN The New York Times January 22 1921 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 12 2021 Vance Jeffrey 2003 Chaplin Genius of the Cinema New York Harry N Abrams pg 117 ISBN 0 8109 4532 0 Howe Herbert January 1924 Mary Pickford s Favorite Stars and Films Photoplay New York Photoplay Publishing Company Retrieved September 4 2015 a b 2011 National Film Registry More Than a Box of Chocolates Press release Library of Congress December 28 2011 Retrieved August 18 2014 The Kid 1921 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved July 4 2022 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Kid 1921 film nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article The Kid film The Kid essay on the National Film Registry website The Kid at IMDb The Kid at the TCM Movie Database The AFI Catalog of Feature Films The Kid Scenes of The Kid The Kid The Grail of Laughter and the Fallen Angel an essay by Tom Gunning at the Criterion Collection Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Kid 1921 film amp oldid 1171223915, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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