Charlie Chaplin was well on his way to becoming the biggest movie star in the world when he made his first feature film, The Kid. Chaplin’s Little Tramp character had already starred in dozens of two-reel comedies before the actor/director made the risky choice of moving to a six-reel feature film. Drawing from the pathos of personal tragedies, including his own harsh upbringing and the recent loss of a child, Chaplin channeled his sorrow into a comedic masterpiece about the joys and travails of sudden fatherhood. The Little Tramp finds an infant boy, abandoned by a mother who believed she was giving him a better life. Forced to raise the child rather than see him fall into unscrupulous hands, years pass and the two become a team, scraping out an existence but always joyous in each other’s company, until authorities find the boy and attempt to return him to his mother. The simple story affords Chaplin ample opportunity to dazzle his audience with brilliant comedic bits and an underlying poignance. Jackie Coogan turns in an astonishing performance as The Kid and soon became an international child star.