Rating: 
Summary: Simply a delight!
Review: "The Kid" is easily Chaplin's best film overall and seems to be a reflection of Chaplin's own childhood at times. It begins a bit quietly and becomes both hilarious and poignant. It is difficult not to view Chaplin as one of the best film makers of all time when you realize he wrote the story, composed the score (which does a beautiful job setting the moods), directed and acted. I became a bona fide Chaplin fan after seeing this one!
Rating:
Summary: Simply a delight!
Review: "The Kid" is easily Chaplin's best film overall and seems to be a reflection of Chaplin's own childhood at times. It begins a bit quietly and becomes both hilarious and poignant. It is difficult not to view Chaplin as one of the best film makers of all time when you realize he wrote the story, composed the score (which does a beautiful job setting the moods), directed and acted. I became a bona fide Chaplin fan after seeing this one!
Rating:
Summary: Touching, moving and yes funny!
Review: Chaplin's first full time movie, i.e.,The KidVHS ~ Charles Chaplin, mixes slapstick and sentiment in a very winning and convincing combination. He, i.e., Chaplin, plays the role as the Tramp whom is given the task of raising a streetwise orphan. This wonderful and touching movie launched Coogan as a major child star, and when one sees the movie it is easy to see why he was seen as appealing by the movie audience. Highly Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Chaplin's "The Kid": a picture with a smile-perhaps a tear
Review: Charlie Chaplin began filming "The Kid" two weeks after the death of his three-day old son from his marriage to Mildred Harris. Chaplin had signed a new contract with First National Studio and "The Kid" was going to be one of the eight two-reelers Chaplin was supposed to make, but the project kept growing until the film was six reels long. As such "The Kid" becomes the comedian's first feature film as writer, director, and star (He had appeared as the male lead in 1914's "Tillie's Punctured Romance," but that was just as an actor and not really a "Chaplin" comedy).
Edna Purviance, Chaplin's long time leading lady, plays a desperate unwed mother who leaves her baby in a limousine with a note pleading whoever finds him to take care of him. She changes her mind, but the baby (Baby Hathaway), is gone and ends up in the tender care of Chaplin's Tramp. The Fates have brought the two of them together, and the Tramp raises the Kid (Jackie Coogan) as best he can. They survive by working together: the Kid throws a brick through a window and Charlie walks by and offers to repair it. The big moment comes in the film when the authorities literally rip the Kid away from the Tramp's arms intending to the boy to the Orphan Asylum. The Tramp actually resorts to physical violence to rescue the Kid and flee to a flophouse. There the proprietor (Henry Bergman) learns of the reward for the Kid and while Charlie is sleeping steals the boy and returns him to his mother for the big reward. Longing for the Kid, Charlie has a wondrous dream where their poverty row street is transformed into Heaven (where the "Flirtatious Angel" is young Lillita McMurray, who would later become Chaplin's second wife, Lita Grey). The Tramp awakes from the dream and is taken by a kindly policeman to be reunited with the Kid and his mother.
Chaplin had seen Coogan performing on the Vaudeville stage with his parents and had given him a bit part in his 1919 comedy short "A Day's Pleasure." With the six-year-old Coogan "The Kid" was a tremendous box office hit, quite possibly the biggest money making movie of all time up to that point grossing $2.5 million. Chaplin had combined comedy and pathos before, but when the Kid is taken away from the Tramp by the authorities and screams for his papa, you almost forget this is a silent film. Posters for the film proudly stated that Chaplin had worked an entire year on the film, and audiences were obviously pleased with the results. This would give Chaplin the leeway to take all the time he wanted to perfect the films that he made the rest of his life. Coogan was the biggest child star of the silent era, but would eventually become known to later generations as Uncle Festus on "The Addams Family." However, his biggest impact game when it was discovered his guardians had spent Coogan's fortune before he reached the age of 18, which inspired the passage of the "Coogan Law" that protects the assets of minor children.
While it seems clear that "The Kid" owes much to Chaplin's personal tragedy, there is something archetypal to the story of the abandoned child who is rescued. Tales of orphans were popular throughout the 20th century, starting with "Anne of Green Gables" and ending with Harry Potter. However, "The Kid" is not without its flaws, which come mainly in the subplot regarding the Kid's mother. Chaplin portrays her as an unwed mother ostracized by a judgmental society for her sun, making a visual comparison to Christ on the cross and sanctifying her with strong religious imagery throughout the film. There is nothing wrong with that, but once she loses her baby she ends up becoming a famous opera star, which means that in the end the Kid will not only be reunited with his mother but be able to live the good life. Pretty convenient, but it means that the reunion of mother and son pales in comparison to Charlie rescuing the Kid from the authorities.
Also on this DVD is the 1918 short, "A Dog's Life," which is one of my all-time favorite Chaplin two-reelers. The Tramp, who lives in a vacant lot, becomes friends with Scraps, and together they steal some tasty sausages from a lunch wagon (run by Chaplin's brother Sydney). The main set piece is when Scraps digs up a wallet filled with money that has been buried in the lot by some crooks and the Tramp sneaks the dog into a dance hall. Edna Purviance is a singer there, having to put up with the unwanted attentions of the patrons, and the obvious object of the Tramp's affection. The crooks show up looking for Charlie and the money as well and the best bit is where the Tramp knocks out one of the crooks and continues the silent conversation with the other one by replacing the unconscious crook's arms with his own. I also have a fondness for this short because it was the one that got my youngest daughter hooked on Charlie Chaplin.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy the DVD!
Review: I have to say that as a huge Chaplin fan who already owns all of his feature films and shorts on VHS, I was quite disappointed with this DVD of The Kid. Although it does contains a few deleted scenes, these scenes totally disrupt the flow of the soundtrack that Chaplin worked so hard to write. It's chopped to bits! The music starts and stops abruptly, and is not in sync with the action! Save your money and buy the VHS version. I think the 20th Century Fox Centennial Collection is by far the best!
Rating:
Summary: Charlie Chaplin Still the best of All time
Review: I like to give six stars for all charlie Chaplin's movie
Rating:
Summary: One of Chaplin's best, if not the best!
Review: I loved this movie! It's one of my best. Right up there with Life is Beautiful (made by Roberto Benigni, who was also a Chaplin admirer). The music was also as touching as the story. Overall: Great, Great, GREAT!
Rating: 
Summary: It's all-right...
Review: It's a watchable movie, and it never really does anything wrong, but in my opinion it is simply not as brilliant as many of Chaplin's later movies (ie. The Gold Rush, City Lights). It has its funny moments, but they do not approach anywhere near the pinnacles seen in some of his later works; they provide more of a chuckle than the uncontrollable laughter that results from watching some his later ones.There were some very touching sceens in the movie, and the acting was pretty good, from both Chaplin and the kid. Still, when I finished watching it, I didn't feel like I had just watched a great movie; I felt like I had watched an acceptable one (there was also a little too much Christian imagery in the film for my taste, but I'll take it as a sign of the times). Anyway, if you're new to Chaplin I suggest that you see something like City Lights first; this film is fairly good, but it's not among his best. As for "The Idle Class", it's a pretty good Chaplin short that has its definite highlight in the scene where the tramp goes golfing and finds that he forgot to bring a ball. Needless to say, hilarity ensues!
Rating:
Summary: Actually deserves a 3.7.
Review: Not too bad, but Chaplin's first full length film was more serious than funny. I watch Chaplin only because of funny. But it's still a great film otherwise about a mother who gives up her son and is picked up by the tramp Chaplin. He takes care of him until a doctor warns him about proper care. When the law tries to take the kid away from Chaplin, he does everything he can to retreat him. Finally, the mother and child meet at the end of the film. It also includes an OK Chaplin short where Chaplin plays two roles. One is a rich sort of bachelor to remarry his ex-wife, and one is a tramp who plays golf and comes to a costume party to have some fun, when the two of them mix up. I'm sure people love this film, so buy if you want.
Rating:
Summary: The most underrated movie of all time?
Review: The Kid is a wonderful movie, which all too few people have even heard of (even those familiar with some silents). Chaplin's first feature film involves his hilarious and touching adventures after "adopting" an abandonned child (played by a young Jackie Coogan - you'd never recognize the future Uncle Fester). And the portrayal of overzealous child "protectors" ripping apart families unfortunately still rings true today. The one minor misstep in the entire movie is the brief dream sequence towards the end, which slows down the momentum right at the climax. Still, one of the greatest movies ever made, and probably the most underrated. The Idle Class isn't nearly at the level of The Kid, but it's thrown in as a bonus and has some very funny moments.
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