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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 705

The Kid

192168 minUnited States

Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs: 69:55
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Charlie Chaplin · Public domain

Synopsis

The Tramp finds an abandoned baby and, after unsuccessful efforts to pass the responsibility elsewhere, makes room for him in his tiny home. Years later the pair survive through ingenuity, affection and a questionable window-repair business. When officials try to separate them, their improvised family faces a threat that neither jokes nor quick thinking can easily resolve.

Cast

Charles Chaplin

Jackie Coogan

Edna Purviance

DirectorsCharles Chaplin

Behind the scenes

Chaplin combines physical comedy with a sustained story of poverty and parental attachment. His first feature as a director also made Jackie Coogan a major child star; this copy presents the original 1921 cut.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film reference Wikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

Charles Chaplin — Strauss-Peyton Studio, 1921; published in Photoplay no. 3 (1922); National Portrait Gallery / Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain in the United States (PD-US-expired)
Jackie Coogan — CBS-TV · Public domain
Edna Purviance — Unknown photographer, 1923; J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries, SAYRE 8372 / Wikimedia Commons. · Public domain in the United States (PD-US-expired)

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