Runtime: 53 minutes
Directed by: Charlie Chaplin
Starring: Chaplin, Jackie Coogan, Edna Purviance, Carl Miller, Tom Wilson
From: Charles Chaplin Productions
A needed change of pace after my last two reviews. Mainly, they were rather lengthy pieces on movies from this year and I didn’t care for either. I went with something that was likely to have a normal length-by my standards-or shorter opinion from moi. This was selected in particular not only due to its popularity in all senses of the world but more Chaplin needs to be seen by me anyhow. Historically, it was the first feature length movie starring, written, produced, and made by Old Charlie.
It mixes what you expect from something starring The Tramp-laughs and slapstick-along with the melodrama of an infant being abandoned by its mother in the opening and it was found by Tramp. He isn’t interested at first in raising an infant boy but as he’s literally unable to give the kid away or hand it off to anyone else, he has to become a single dad. As sometimes happens in real life, the mom regrets her decision which becomes a plot point later on. A 5 year time jump happens and we see the baby as a toddler, played by Jackie Coogan of all people. For me it’s wild to see him as a toddler here and know four decades later he would Uncle Fester in The Addams Family.
The mix of heartwarming sentimentality and humor manages to be a success, both genres working on their own & together. Whether it’s father and son trying to run money-making scams or mom’s hopes for her son back, it’s not a surprise this feature length picture was a huge hit in 1921. Note that it was re-edited by Chaplin in ’72 into a 53 minute presentation, which was watched on the Criterion Channel. The movie also works 101 years later due to its basic themes and how well they were presented. Watching two children brawl w/ each other or a giant brute: timeless.
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