Rating: 3/5
Criterion Challenge 2022 | 2/52 | 1920s
An unwed mother abandons her baby in the park in the back of a car. Thieves steal the vehicle. They only find the baby after they make a getaway. They put the baby in the alley and take off.
The tramp, on his morning promenade, finds the baby. After several failed attempts to pawn it off, he takes it as his own and names him John.
Five years later, the tramp and the kid have a moneymaking scheme. It’s not much, but it’s living. The mother, now a famous actress, does charity work and unknowingly crosses paths with her child.
Hijinks!
This movie is yet another Chaplin I’ve watched part of over and over. It’s fine. As I’ve said in other reviews, Chaplin movies feel like homework. Here, it has the added annoyance of a child actor and a saccharine-sweet story.
Chaplin was a genius and deserves all the recognition and praise he’s received. His movies just aren’t for me.
Did you know the actor who played the kid, Jackie Coogan, was also Uncle Fester in the Addams Family TV show?