The Kid

The off-screen chemistry between Charles Chaplin and Jackie Coogan was just as strong as their onscreen relationship. Every Sunday, during the first few weeks of filming, Chaplin would take Jackie to amusement parks and pony rides and other activities. Some have seen Chaplin's relationship with Coogan as an attempt for Chaplin to reclaim his own unhappy childhood, while others have interpreted Chaplin's attention toward the boy as recasting Coogan into the child he had just lost.

On the rooftop, after the Tramp chases the two welfare workers who have captured and tormented John, the scene ends with the Tramp and one of the workers fighting on the back of the workers' pickup truck. After kicking the second welfare man off the back of the pickup, the Tramp makes a 'nonsensical' wave good-bye as he and John ride off to momentary safety. In reality Charles Chaplin (also the director) is waving 'CUT' to cameraman Roland Totheroh.

A new version was reissued in 1972 with a new music score composed by Charles Chaplin, who also re-edited the film in order to omit a few scenes featuring the kid's mother.

Edited into Histoire(s) du cinéma: Une histoire seule (1989)