The Kid

In The Kid Chaplin weaves his own distinctive humour into the tragic weft of a story of poverty and abandon. The result is a new and unforgettable way of portraying father-son affection in film. Charlot and a boy found by chance become a comic, resourceful and very tenacious pair, united by an instinctive empathy sealed by minimal gestures and everyday understanding. The film also features an extraordinary performance by Jackie Coogan, a child actor of unusual naturalness and expressive precision at the start of a career that was to later see him give life to another unforgettable though perhaps unexpected character: Uncle Fester in the Addams Family.