Charlie Chaplin was already an international star when he decided to break out of the short-film format and make his first full-length feature. The Kid doesn’t merely show Chaplin at a turning point, when he proved that he was a serious film director—it remains an expressive masterwork of silent cinema. In it, he stars as his lovable Tramp character, this time raising an orphan (a remarkable young Jackie Coogan) he has rescued from the streets.
Chaplin and Coogan make a miraculous pair in this nimble marriage of sentiment and slapstick, a film that is, as its opening title card states, “a picture with a smile—and perhaps, a tear.
Extras
New 4K digital restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s 1972 rerelease version of the film, featuring an original score by Chaplin, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
New audio commentary featuring Chaplin historian Charles Maland
Jackie Coogan: The First Child Star, a new video essay by Chaplin historian Lisa Haven
A Study in Undercranking, a new program featuring silent-film specialist Ben Model
Interviews with Coogan and actor Lita Grey Chaplin
Excerpted audio interviews with cinematographer Rollie Totheroh and film distributor Mo Rothman
Deleted scenes and titles from the original 1921 version of The Kid
“Charlie” on the Ocean, a 1921 newsreel documenting Chaplin’s first return trip to Europe
Footage of Chaplin conducting his score for The Kid
Nice and Friendly, a 1922 silent short featuring Chaplin and Coogan, presented with a new score by composer Timothy Brock
