Synopsis
In a Charity Hospital, an unwed Woman (Purviance) has given birth. Holding her
baby, she sits alone in the park. In his studio, the father (Miller), a painter,
accidentally drops her photograph into the fire. He recovers the half burned
photo, then throws it back. The Woman, wandering dejectedly, puts her baby on the
back seat of an expensive car and runs away. Thieves steal the unlocked car. When
they hear the baby, they leave him in an alley. The Tramp (Chaplin), walking along
the alley, dodges debris thrown from windows. When he hears the baby cry, he looks
up at the buildings thinking the child was also thrown out. The Tramp takes the
baby and tries to leave the him with an old man, but the man refuses to take him.
He puts the baby with another baby in a carriage, but the mother does not want two
babies. The Tramp sits with the baby at a curb and finds the note left by the
Woman: Please care for this orphan child.
He regards the baby lovingly and
carries him away.
Meanwhile, the Woman considers jumping off a bridge. Seeing a mother and baby stimulates her to think of her own child. She goes back for him. The car is gone and she faints.
Five years pass. The Tramp loves and cares for the Kid (Coogan). Although their clothes are worn and patched, they are content. Their house is poor, but neat. They eat regularly and say their prayers. The Kid and the Tramp stand up for one another against the toughs of the neighborhood. They work together to make money. The Kid breaks a window with a rock and runs away. The Tramp passes the house carrying a glass pane and is employed to replace the broken glass. A policeman sees them at work and chases them. After eluding the cop, they return to breaking windows. As the Tramp is making up to a housewife whose window has been broken, her husband comes home. It is the same cop. The Kid and the Tramp flee. Later, they go home to dinner. It was just another day.
The Woman has become a celebrated actress; the Man is now a prominent painter. One evening they meet at a party, and he expresses regret for his behavior. In memory of her lost child, the Woman distributes charity to needy children. One day, the Kid, sitting on his front step, smiles at her. She gives him a toy and an apple. A few days later, the Kid becomes ill; the Woman gets a doctor for him. The doctor asks the Tramp if he is the father. The Tramp shows him the letter left with the baby and declares himself practically the father. The doctor says the child needs better care and sends the wagon from the County Orphan Asylum for him. The wagon drivers take the crying child, but the Tramp catches up with them. He and the Kid escape. In the meantime, the doctor has taken the letter to the Woman who is overjoyed to find her child.
That night, the Tramp and the Kid find a bed in a flophouse. The Manager, who has read about a reward for returning the boy, discovers the child and takes him to the police. At dawn, the Woman comes to the police station, kisses the boy, and takes him to her home. Now alone, the disconsolate Tramp has a dream. Everything and everybody around him are beautiful; flowers fill the streets; all the residents are angels. The Kid and the Tramp have wings. Sin creeps into his dream; the Tramp follows a girl whose jealous sweetheart picks a fight with him. A policeman arrives, chases the Tramp, and shoots him. The child runs to him. He weakly flaps his wings.
Awakening, the Tramp finds himself in the hands of a policeman who takes him in a fine car to a large house. The Kid comes out and hugs him. The Woman is at the door and asks him to come inside.
Discussion
A meticulous filmmaker, Chaplin spent almost a year making The Kid, his first feature film. The film is funny and touching in the Chaplin manner, a series of heartwarming incidents combining mirth, pathos, and sentimentality. The simple plot centers on the loving relationship between the Tramp and the Kid. Although their clothing is ragged and patched and their home is small and shabby, they are together and happy. The overarching plot involving the Mother achieving wealth and fame before reclaiming her child is old-fashioned and mawkish, but allows a satisfactory ending in which the Kid and the Tramp attain a wealthy and stable home.
The slum setting recalls the poverty and privation in which Chaplin spent his
childhood and youth. Chaplin's famous Tramp
character is a reflection of
his early life, and he uses the theme of escape from squalor in many films,
including Easy Street (1917),
A Dog's Life (1918) and
City Lights (1931).
The Kid was a worldwide success. Chaplin, already famous for his
short films, succeeded greatly with his first feature. A year after its release,
the continued popularity of the film is exemplified in the comments of J.H.
Talbot, manager of the Legion Theater in tiny Norwich, Kansas:
We didn’t want to be the only theater on earth not to play this picture.
Chaplin's costar Jackie Coogan, acclaimed for his affecting portrayal as the Kid, attained sudden fame. The child star's large expressive eyes, wistful demeanor, and forceful acting had great appeal. Only four months after the opening of The Kid, his father signed a large contract for further films. Jackie's starring films, such as Peck's Bad Boy (1921) and Oliver Twist (1922), were very successful. His success as a film star continued until his teenage years when, having lost his cuteness, his career stalled. Coogan made few films during the 1930s and 1940s. The advent of television opened new avenues, and he appeared in many series, most notably as bald, fat, homely, and amiable Uncle Fester Frump in The Addams Family (1964-66) and its cartoon version (1973-75).
During his juvenile career Coogan had considerable earnings (nearly $4
million according to his own estimate) that were to be managed by his parents
until he turned 21. His father, Jackie Coogan, Sr., who in an interview with
The New York Times called his son
…a fine little fellow and a gold mine for us,
managed the money
well. But after his father died in a tragic car accident in 1935 (20-year-old
Jackie was the only survivor), Coogan's mother and new stepfather Arthur Bernstein
freely spent the money on jewelry and cars. In 1938, Jackie sued his unscrupulous
mother (who commented No promises were ever made to Jackie anything.
) to
recover whatever was left of his childhood earnings. In 1939, Coogan and his
mother reached a settlement in which each he received half of the remaining funds,
totaling $252,000. That same year, the California legislature, in response
to Jackie Coogan's misfortune, passed the California Child Actors' Bill (also
called the Coogan Act
) requiring a percentage of a child actor's earnings
be set aside as savings for the child's adulthood.
Cinematographer Roland Totheroh was an actor at the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company in Niles, California, and had appeared in a couple of Gilbert 'Broncho Billy' Anderson's short films in 1912-13 before moving behind the camera. Chaplin signed with Essanay in 1915 and made several shorts in Niles. Totheroh first filmed Chaplin in Work (1915). When Chaplin signed with Mutual Films and moved to Hollywood, Totheroh accompanied him and worked exclusively with Chaplin for the rest of his career, photographing most of Chaplin's films between 1915 and 1947.