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Charlie Chaplin's “The Kid”
In this silent film, Chaplin manages to both amuse and move starring as his most beloved character, the famed Little Tramp. The story begins with a desperate mother, stricken by poverty and with an apparently fatherless newborn. Unable to handle her lot, she intends to commit suicide. She leaves her baby in a limousine parked outside of a church, hoping that whoever finds him will have the money and compassion to take him in. Then, she runs off. The baby is discovered in the limo, but by thieves who steal the vehicle and promptly deposit the squalling bundle in a rank, garbage-strewn alley. By the time the baby's mother has a change of heart and returns to fetch her son, it's too late and he is nowhere to be found. The baby could've met with a dreadful fate were it not for his discovery by the unwitting Little Tramp. Naturally, as soon as he notices the little dumpling, local cops step in and our Tramp is forced to feign that he is indeed the father. Then he's stuck in a parental role for which he had not bargained, so he tries to find an acceptable home for the baby. Unsuccessful, he realizes that he can't possibly leave him abandoned all over again. So off he sets on new adventures with his new “son”. Eventually, the baby grows into The Kid - played to adorable perfection by Jackie Coogan, who went on to become one of the greatest stars of the day as both a child actor and as the unforgettable Uncle Fester in The Addams Family (in fact, his popularity was so great as a child that he made quite a fortune - a fortune that was squandered by his parents - leading to the formation of the 'Coogan Law' protecting the assets of children). Clad in baggy pants, oversized shoes and beat-up hats, the duo goes on to have a variety of comedic antics that seal their relationship. It's all very heartwarming - and the bond between the two translates as nothing short of charming. So naturally, it can't last. And it doesn't. The Kid's mother comes back onto the scene. Remember how she decided against suicide at the last minute? It turns out that in the five years since she abandoned her baby, she had become a wealthy opera singer who had been doing charity work in the slums in a desperate attempt to find her son. Before long, the truth comes out and the Kid is found. The cops take him from Charlie, who steals him back only to have him taken from him again. The film ends with a bittersweet reunion between the two at the mother's mansion - where the viewer can't help but feel lost that they are no longer allowed to be together. The conflict between sadness and comedy that pervade this film are utterly consistent with what was happening to Charlie Chaplin in his personal life at the time. Just two weeks before he began shooting the film, his own newborn son had died. To help assuage his feelings of loss, he made many of the film's scenes - both humorous and heart-wrenching - reminiscent of his own childhood. The scene where the Kid is grabbed from Charlie's arms is based on a memory Charlie had of being grabbed from his own mother's arms. Certain rooms were designed to replicate rooms Charlie remembered as a child. And the scene where the Kid breaks a window that Charlie repairs comes from a story told by one of Charlie's friends, Fred Karno. The formula certainly moved audiences, and The Kid received unanimous praise, even breaking a box office record.
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