The Kid (1921)
Item
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Title
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The Kid (1921)
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Creator
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Charles Chaplin
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Date
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1921
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Description
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The Little Tramp saves and raises an orphan from the streets. In this smart and creative mix of pathos and humour, a story of pancakes, fistfights, and dodging social services and cops, Chaplin and Jackie Coogan make a wonderful duo - as the opening title card states, "a picture with a smile - and perhaps a tear." The Kid was an instant success in 1921 and is still considered a cinematic masterpiece today.
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The Kid (1921)
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Scholarly Significance
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This film, the longest Chaplin film ever made, represents a mature development in his art form and the culmination of everything he has ever shown. The film opens with the introduction of the film as "a comedy with laughter - and possibly tears", in keeping with his usual approach of blending sentimental warmth with realistic cynicism, a major innovation in combining farce and emotional drama[6]. It is a major innovation.
The film is also Chaplin's most obviously autobiographical work, with a tragic childhood and the struggle to make a living from an early age making a natural connection to the film's plot, which uses the meticulous representation to promote his imaginative and social outlook and to make a strong indictment of society's disregard for the poor and ignorant.
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Cataloguer
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Yuan Yuan
The dream in The Kid (1921)
The Kid (1921)--A knockout