Kid, The (1921) (DVD)

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Video:
Restored by MK2 Editions of France from a pristine print found in the Chaplin family vault, the transfer shows hardly a sign of age. The image is clear, the black-and-white contrasts are mostly solid, and moiré effects are at a minimum. Perhaps the delineation could be sharper and some of the darker areas could be stronger, but overall the picture is excellently preserved.

Audio:
The set includes Chaplin's 1971 musical soundtrack in both its original monaural and in a new Dolby Digital 5.1 remix. Frankly, the mono is easier on the ears because the DD 5.1 in clarifying the sound also makes it brighter, harder, and edgier. But the 5.1 track does spread the sonics out better across the front speakers, even if it does little with the surrounds.

Extras:
I'd have to say this is the biggest, most-elaborate, two-disc, special-edition set ever devoted to a fifty-minute movie. If it seems a little extravagant, remember, it's an important film. Disc one contains the standard, 1.33:1 ratio screen presentation of the film; the two soundtracks previously mentioned; interscene cards in English, with Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai subtitles; and twenty scene selections.

Disc two, of course, contains the bonus items. Here you'll find a six-minute introduction by Chaplin's biographer, David Robinson, discussing the historical and cinematic context of the film. Then, there are the three main items, the twenty-six minute documentary "Chaplin Today: the Kid" by Alain Bergala with the participation of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami; the sixteen-minute film
"How to Make Movies" (1918), in which Chaplin shows the building of his new studio and how he made movies there; and the fifty-five minute feature film "My Boy" (1921), starring Jackie Coogan.

In addition, there are three scenes developing the role of the Kid's mother (Edna Purviance) that Chaplin deleted for the film's 1971 reissue; and footage of Chaplin conducting a section of his new score for the rerelease. Then, in a "Documents" segment, we find "Jackie Coogan Dances" (1920), the child star performing an impromptu dance for visitors at the Chaplin studios; "Nice and Friendly" (1922), a home movie with Lord and Lady Mountbatten, Jackie Coogan, and Charles Chaplin; "Charlie on the Ocean" (1921), newsreel footage of Chaplin's first trip back to Europe; and "Jackie Coogan in Paris," during a charity fund-raising trip. The extras conclude with a gallery of production stills and photos of Coogan; a gallery of film posters; several theatrical trailers for the film, including a German version and the 1971 reissue; and, finally, trailers for other movies in "The Chaplin Collection."

Parting Thoughts:
It's hard not to like "The Kid," with its old-fashioned yet endearing combination of pathos and humor. The film represents the quintessential Chaplin spirit, and it probably does more in its fifty-odd minutes to convince us of the man's genius than anything he ever did. It established Chaplin as a Hollywood filmmaker of the first order, a star that has not diminished in close to a century.

"The Kid" is available individually or as a part of a big boxed set, Volume Two of "The Chaplin Collection" from Warner Bros. and MK2. The seven-disc set includes "The Circus," "City Lights," "The Kid," "Monsieur Verdoux," "A Woman of Paris" and "A King in New York," "The Chaplin Revue" (seven of Chaplin's best comedy shorts), and "Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin," movie critic Richard Schickel's tribute to the comic filmmaker.

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