Sir Charles Chaplin is considered to be the most recognisable icon in the history of cinema. He achieved that by becoming first truly global film star. This achievement owes much to silent cinema not being burdened with language barriers and masses in different part of the world easily recognising universal themes and message in his films. But even more could be attributed to Chaplin easily identifying to the majority of the audience all over the globe, namely those within the lower strata of society, and Chaplin’s films being directed primarily towards them. Chaplin also earned his place in history as a talented film maker and innovator and in the very short time his films, just like the cinema in general, evolved from seemingly cheap and meaningless entertainment into something more. One one of the most important points in this process was The Kid, 1921 film which is considered one of Chaplin’s best and one of the great classics of the silent Hollywood.
The plot begins when unnamed young woman (played by Edna Purvience) leaves hospital with male baby. The baby’s father (played by Carl Miller), an aspiring artist, has abandoned her and married another woman. Young mother in desperation decides to leave the baby in the motor car with a note for its presumably wealthy owner. Soon she has second thoughts, but when she returns she finds that the car is gone. It was actually stolen by two criminals who brought it to poor city neighbourhood. Once they find the baby, they leave it at the doorstep of Tramp (played by Charles Chaplin). He at first tries to get rid of the baby, but without success and, gradually, begins to love him. Five years later, baby is a boy named John (played by Jackie Coogan) who lives with Tramp who tries his best to take care of him despite living in poverty. In the meantime, the John’s mother has become a successful actress and she uses her newly acquired money and fame for charity work among the less fortunate. She visits Tramp’s neighbourhood and by accident means her son. It would take some time for her to realise that John is her baby and, in the meantime, Tramp would have to fight against authorities that want to bring the boy to orphanage.
The Kid represented important point in Chaplin’s filmography. Until that time, all of his films were short. The Kid was his first feature and he, apart from starring, also wrote the script, directed the film and even composed the musical soundtrack (which was something still rare in those times). As such, this film represented Chaplin as true film author. But even more important innovation was his idea to transcend the content formula that had made him famous. He introduced the film in opening titles as “picture with a smile… and perhaps a tear”. Thus way he signalled his intention to mix the comedy with which he was always associated with more serious dramatic motives, which could easily be at home in melodramas of D. W. Griffith. Chaplin employed this new formula in perfect balance; all Chaplin fans can still recognise Tramp and enjoy his slapstick humour, but they can also see how his film clearly points to poverty and deprivation as something that is more a rule than exception for members of society. This can be best seen in scenes depicting Tramp trying his best to be proper parent to 5-year old boy while within confines of his rundown single room home. Tramp and John are forced to use all their ingenuity to make ends meet and create some sort of happy life for themselves, and Chaplin uses that as excellent source of humour. Sometimes all of people like Tramp are left the imagination and this can be seen in bittersweet scene when he dreams about his impoverished neighbourhood transformed into paradise and its impoverished inhabitants into angels.
Chaplin here also displayed great talent for casting. His greatest discovery was Jackie Coogan, 6-year old boy from the family of vaudeville performers. Although it wasn’t his first role, The Kid was a display of great talent and helped him become first child star in history of Hollywood. Coogan would, unsurprisingly, get renewed fame in later years with another comic role, this time on television as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family. Coogan’s performance is well matched by an actress playing his mother. Edna Purviance, who played roles in most of Chaplin’s early films, delivers one of the most memorable performances of her career.
Some of today’s viewers, even those that take into account different technical standards from one century ago, might find The Kid to be too old fashioned. Chaplin’s unapologetic sentimentality and desire that wrap up his modern fable with obligatory happy end might not sit well for some in our, supposedly more cynical, age. But The Kid nevertheless clearly shows a great artist at work – talented actor, comedian, director and someone who even now can find the way to audience’s hearts as easily as he did a century ago.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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