The Kid

The Kid (1921) is Charlie Chaplin's tragicomedy you can watch online on iFILM. It was his first feature-length film as director, produced for First National in six reels. Chaplin plays his trademark Tramp, who finds an abandoned newborn on a city street and decides — somewhat reluctantly at first — to raise him.

The boy is played by Jackie Coogan, five years old at the time and every bit as precise in his physical comedy as Chaplin himself. Together they run a small racket: the kid throws rocks through windows, the Tramp shows up moments later offering to fix the glass. The arrangement works until authorities discover the child was never legally adopted, and the mother who gave him up begins searching for her son.

Released in January 1921, the film was a major box-office success for its era. Chaplin wrote the script and composed the score, which he later rearranged for a sound re-release decades after. Watch The Kid (1921) online on iFILM.