The Kid is a 1921 American silent comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin, and features Jackie Coogan as his foundling baby, adopted son and sidekick. This was Chaplin's first full-length film as a director. It was a huge success and was the second-highest-grossing film in 1921. Now considered one of the greatest films of the silent era, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2011.
Theatrical release poster
Chaplin and Jackie Coogan in a publicity photo for The Kid
Business partners on the street
"The Kid" pleading to be left with his "father", Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the film industry's most important figures. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy.
Chaplin in the early 1920s
Seven-year-old Chaplin (centre, head slightly cocked) at the Central London District School for paupers, 1897
A teenage Chaplin in the play Sherlock Holmes
Advertisement from Chaplin's American tour with the Fred Karno comedy company, 1913