
PopGap #09: The Kid (1921)
Written by dorrk | 30 September 2015 |
The Flickchart Top 250: 3 left to go
My Flickchart Rank: #1338
Global Flickchart Rank: #192
In the great Charlie Chaplin vs. Buster Keaton opinion wars, one of the primary attacks aimed at Chaplin is that he's too sentimental. While there's most definitely an inclination toward melodrama in the later Chaplin productions I've seen — The Gold Rush, City Lights, Modern Times — I've always felt that it was elegant and effective sentiment, well-balanced with the comedy, and one of the bonuses that marginally elevated Chaplin's work over Keaton's for me. I hadn't seen his 1921 short The Kid, which is a big, juicy target for Chaplin critics, as it's almost 100% treacle with very little of the clever humor that has distinguished Chaplin as an early master moviemaker.
Playing his familiar Tramp character, Chaplin comes across an abandoned baby and, after briefly considering dropping him down a storm drain, takes him home and raises him as his own son. Five years later, the authorities find out about this unofficial adoption and attempt to claim the boy (Jackie Coogan) for the local orphan asylum. the boy's birth-mother, now a famous and wealthy singer, also comes looking.
While The Kid is well-produced, there's little sophistication at work in the simple plot, and only dim flashes of Chaplin's special comedic genius — and those mostly in a strange dream sequence near the very end. Instead, Chaplin gives us several shots of the cute kid, relishing the more heartbreaking moments of Coogan's performance. At less than an hour in length, The Kid doesn't overstay its welcome, but it's also so slight that I feel it doesn't even deserve mention alongside the inventive Chaplin classics that would follow.
Trailer for the Kid (1921)
TL/DR
-
Movie:The Kid (1921)
-
Dir.:Charlie Chaplin
-
Rating:6/10
Tags
Related Articles
Latest Articles
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 03. Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 02. Hellzapoppin' (1941)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: 01. The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 05. The Hippopotamus (2017)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 04. My Life as a Zucchini (2016)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 03. Me and Orson Welles (2009)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 02. Red Road (2006)
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: 01. The Warrior (2001)
POPGAP Projects
-
Silver Screen Streak List #23: The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
-
Silver Screen Streak List #22: The 28 best films of all time you've probably never seen
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2022 is all Oct-Over now, Baby Blue
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2022
-
Silver Screen Streak List #21: Dramas of the 1940s
-
Popgap Diary: 2021 in Review
-
Silver Screen Streak List #20: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2021 is in the cold, cold ground
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2021
Popular Articles
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2019
-
Introducing the Silver Screen Streak movie challenge
-
Octoblur 2017: Annual Horror-ish Movie Nightmare-a-thon
-
PopGap #08 Re-cap: Comedies Since 1970
-
Octoblur 2017: R.I.P.!
-
PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2020
-
Octoblur 2015 - It's Over!
-
PopGap #19: Movie Books Special Report
-
Popgap Diary: 2019 in Review