The Kid

The Kid (1921)

Timing: 1:8 (68 min)

8.141/10
2348

All about film

Video 2

Photo 48

Actors and characters

Release date

1921-01-21

Country

United States

Production

Charles Chaplin Productions

Genre

Comedy, Drama

Budget

$250 000

Revenue

$5 450 000

Website

Director

Charlie Chaplin

Actors

Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Carl Miller, Edna Purviance, Albert Austin, Beulah Bains, Nellie Bly Baker, Henry Bergman, Edward Biby, F. Blinn
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Charlie Chaplin

Producer

Charlie Chaplin

Operator

Roland Totheroh

Composer

Charlie Chaplin

Artist

Audition

Editing

Charlie Chaplin
All team (10)

• Jackie Coogan, who played the Little Tramp, was the son of vaudeville actor Jack Coogan Sr. (who played the Devil in the “heavenly” episode of the film). The 'First National' studio made a deal with Coogan Sr., which allowed Chaplin to film Coogan Jr.
• Chaplin's directorial demands can be judged by the fact that less than 2% of the footage shot made it into the finished film—a ratio extremely unusual for cinema of that time.
• Filming was completed in 1920, shortly after Chaplin's divorce from his first wife, Mildred Harris, who attempted to confiscate the footage through a lawsuit. Chaplin was forced to take the film from the studio in Salt Lake City, where, hiding from bailiffs, he finished editing the film.
• Chaplin filmed 'The Kid' under a contract with 'First National,' which stipulated that he create eight two-reel short films. Although 'The Kid' was a feature-length film (6 reels), the company attempted to 'count' it as a short and pay Chaplin three times less than he expected—$500,000 instead of $1.5 million. Unwilling to accept these terms, Chaplin took a copy of the film with him and negotiated with the company until he achieved acceptable conditions.
• 'The Kid' was released to incredible success and became the second highest-grossing film of 1921 (surpassed only by Rex Ingram's 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' starring Rudolph Valentino).
• In 1971, Chaplin released an updated version of 'The Kid' with musical accompaniment specially written by him for the film. A musical leitmotif of the film is a quote from Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony.
• The film was initially titled "Besprizorny" (engl. The Waif), however Chaplin renamed it "The Kid" during the production process.
• Chaplin became so engrossed in filming that he violated all possible deadlines, and his contract with "First National" studio was in jeopardy of being terminated. The studio nevertheless gave Charlie additional time to complete the film after seeing the filming process and Jackie Coogan's performance.
• Filming took 154 working days, and another 118 working days were required for editing.
• In December 2011, the film was included in the U.S. National Film Registry as "having significant cultural, historical, or aesthetic value".
• Jackie Coogan, who played The Kid, was the son of vaudeville actor Jack Coogan Sr. (who played the Devil in the film's 'heavenly' episode). First National studio signed a contract with Coogan Sr., thereby giving Chaplin the opportunity to film Coogan Jr.
• Chaplin’s directorial demands can be judged by the fact that less than 2% of the filmed material made it into the finished film – a ratio extremely uncharacteristic of cinema at that time.
• Chaplin filmed 'The Kid' under a contract with First National, which stipulated that he create eight two-part short films. Although 'The Kid' was a feature-length film (6 parts), the company attempted to 'count' it as a short film and pay Chaplin three times less than he expected – $500,000 instead of $1.5 million. Unwilling to accept these terms, Chaplin took a copy of the film with him and negotiated with the company until he achieved conditions acceptable to him.
• 'The Kid' was released to incredible success and became the second highest-grossing film of 1921 (surpassed only by Rex Ingram’s 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' starring Rudolph Valentino).
• In 1971, Chaplin released an updated version of 'The Kid' with musical accompaniment specially written by him for the film. A musical leitmotif of the film became a quote from Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony.
• Initially, the film was titled "Besprizorny" (engl. The Waif), but Chaplin renamed it "The Kid" during the production process.
• Chaplin became so engrossed in filming that he violated all possible deadlines, and his contract with "First National" studio was at risk of being terminated. The studio eventually gave Charlie additional time to complete the film after seeing the filming process and Jackie Coogan's performance.
• In December 2011, the film was included in the U.S. National Film Registry as "having significant cultural, historical, or aesthetic value."