# 191 The Kid (1921)

Today is 122 years since Charlie Chaplin was born (thanks to Google for the information), and here comes a very special review of his first feature-length film. The Kid tells us a story about the Tramp who finds an abandoned boy and raises him as his own. Years later, the authorities find out about it, and try to take the child away from the Tramp. At the same time, the mother of the boy, who had once left him, becomes a famous singer, and tries to find him.

This is a very good film, I wouldn't say that it's become my favorite out of all Chaplin's films, but definitely a classic. Almost every aspect of the film was perfect, but most of all I was amazed by Jackie Coogan's performance. I mean, the kid was only about six years old back then, and he managed to do a great job and express so much emotion and humor without the use of words.

There were a couple of things that made the movie less-than-perfect to me though. First of all, the dream sequence towards the end of the film, where the Tramp finds himself in heaven, surrounded by angels, was a little weird. Secondly, overall the movie was a bit too heavy on the sentimental side.

Nonetheless, the film is great. It becomes even more interesting once you know its background. So I recommend looking it up in Wikipedia, or even watching a movie called Chaplin, which is based on his autobiography, in order to get a deeper insight.

Interesting fact: Many Chaplin biographers have attributed the relationship portrayed in the film to have resulted from the death of Chaplin's firstborn infant son just before production began.