Overview
A heartwarming tale of unexpected fatherhood and resilience amidst hardship.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- slapstick
- wistful
- classic film night
- family viewing with older children
What critics said
Critics broadly celebrate Chaplin's finely balanced comedy and pathos, the simple but affecting story, and Jackie Coogan's extraordinary child performance, while some note occasional coarseness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Charlie and the Kid survive through precarious shelter and petty work while authorities and wealthy domestic spaces control the child's fate.
The film explicitly frames itself as a comedy with a smile and perhaps a tear, balancing slapstick set pieces with abandonment and separation.
The Tramp adopts an abandoned infant and raises him into a close five-year partnership despite poverty and official intervention.
Black-and-white imagery, title cards, and Chaplin and Coogan's bodily performances carry the plot and emotional shifts without spoken dialogue.
Films like The Kid, and why
the gold rush
Shared silent-era physical comedy, tender pathos, and an impoverished outsider forming a family bond.
city lights
Shared charlie chaplin blend of slapstick, social hardship, emotional vulnerability, and class-conscious comedy.
the circus
Shared child-centered sentiment, social inequality, and the fusion of laughter with tearful melodrama.
Movie Details
- Director
- Charlie Chaplin
- Release Date
- 1921-01-21
- Runtime
- 68 min
- Rating
- 8.1 / 10 (2453)
Cast
- Charlie Chaplin
- Jackie Coogan
- Carl Miller
- Edna Purviance
- Albert Austin
- Beulah Bains
- Nellie Bly Baker
- Henry Bergman
- Edward Biby
- B.F. Blinn
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, HBO Max Amazon Channel, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, YouTube TV, MGM Plus, Pure Flix, FlixFling, HBO Max, Great American Pure Flix Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Kid about?
- A resourceful Tramp turns an abandoned baby into his beloved partner in survival, creating a luminous silent comedy about poverty, parenthood, and separation.
- What is The Kid like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Kid as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is The Kid violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Kid as mild.
- What did critics think of The Kid?
- Critics broadly celebrate Chaplin's finely balanced comedy and pathos, the simple but affecting story, and Jackie Coogan's extraordinary child performance, while some note occasional coarseness.
- Which films are like The Kid?
- Films with a similar feel include the gold rush, city lights, and the circus.
- How long is The Kid?
- The Kid runs 68 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Kid?
- In United States, The Kid streams on fuboTV, HBO Max Amazon Channel, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, YouTube TV, MGM Plus, Pure Flix, FlixFling, HBO Max, Great American Pure Flix Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
