Criterion Blu-ray Film Review

The Kid (1921) • Blu-ray [Criterion Collection]

The Tramp adopts an abandoned baby…

Charlie Chaplin “worked a whole year” on The Kid, a poster for its original release excitedly declared, and it shows. Although at a glance his first full-length feature looks like the usual 1920s mix of slapstick, stereotype, and sentiment, it’s a more sophisticated film than many of its contemporaries, interweaving two fully-fledged storylines (although one was cut back for the 1972 re-release), in which believable lead characters provide genuine dramatic tension and emotional pathos as well as humour. As with all of Chaplin’s best films, in fact, one gets the impression he really felt the story personally.

Much of its exceptionally long production time was, for Chaplin, spent working closely with Jackie Coogan, the eponymous six-year-old child actor who became, as a result of The Kid, a major star for a few years. The film wasn’t scripted, although Chaplin had a general idea of how the storyline would progress; instead, scenes were worked out one at a time during shooting, Chaplin often performing himself what he wanted Coogan to do so…