Renz
An Army of One
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Cast: Charles Chaplin, Edna Purviance, Jackie Coogan
Synopsis from Amazon.com: Released in 1921, The Kid is one of the purest expressions of Charlie Chaplin's art on film. It unites Chaplin with a boy he had spotted in a vaudeville act, 6-year-old Jackie Coogan--whose life would lead to the child-protective Coogan Act and a role as Uncle Fester on TV. The story has the Tramp adopting an abandoned waif and teaching him streetwise survival skills. The gags are flawless, but for Chaplin the huge advance (other than a running time longer than his two-reelers) was the exploration of a rich vein of sentiment; the emotionally wrenching separation of the Tramp and the Kid is probably the most Dickensian sequence ever captured on film. Chaplin drew on his own rough childhood for the material (and may have been inspired by the death of an infant son immediately before beginning the project). Jackie Coogan's gift for mimicry allowed him to replicate Chaplin's exacting direction, making him the perfect Chaplin co-star.
The Kid is one of my favorite silent films and one of my favorite of Chaplin's pictures. The chemistry and timing between Chaplin and Coogan is truly remarkable. It is surprising that the two only worked together on this one film. The affection between the Tramp and the Kid appears so genuine that the seperation of the Kid and the Tramp is one of the most heart-wrenching scenes ever filmed.
This is Chaplin's first feature film and a harbinger of great things to come from one of the all-time great actor/directors.
