Favorite film of the decade: 1920s

Oh, the great playwright Charles Spencer Chaplin! Is it possible to call another the same most famous representative of the cinema? Yes, then such bright stars as Vivien Leigh, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and Brad Pitt with Angelina Jolie will light up. But Chaplin, he stands on top of everyone else. His frenzied popularity and enormous influence on the masses through his films stood across the throat of rulers and governments. He, a man-orchestra, united the profession of a screenwriter, actor, director, editor and composer, and in each of them he was a professional with a capital "P". I think if he could, he would have been his own operator. He came to the cinema in the middle of the 1910s, and already in the early 20's began to create not just talented films (like, for example, "Dog life"), but masterpieces.

"Baby", created in 1921 - a masterpiece. One of Chaplin's best films in his entire career. A simple story about how a homeless baby saved from death and brought up by the Little Rogue, probably conquered billions of hearts all over the planet. Here the comedy, which Chaplin already embodied, faced a deep drama. The drama of fatherhood, motherhood, homelessness, justice and many other things. This picture is much deeper than all previous Chaplin creations. Here the author asks more serious questions, confronts the characters in more complex conflicts, builds the narrative from the outset to the culmination in such a thorny way that the inner state of all the characters changes radically from beginning to end. The story begins with a hopeless situation, and ends ... However, you should see for yourself, and if you have already seen the film, then you will agree with me.

All the film-makers know that it's hardest to shoot animals and children, wanting to achieve from them what was planned on paper. Chaplin coped well with both of them (more about animals in the same "Dog life"). Kid Jackie Coogan played his role perfectly, becoming one of the most famous children in the history of cinema. And the merit of Chaplin himself is great here. The shooting took a little more than 150 (!) Days - an unprecedented number for the 1920s. And the same unprecedented number of takes (only 2% of the footage included in the film). However, the rest of the actors did not just work out their salary. Edna Perviens talentedly embodied the image of a woman who lost her child after his birth through his own fault, and why was incredibly grieved. Jack Coogan Sr. (the real father of the Toddler) played two roles. Well, do not forget about the young and quite talented Lita Gray, the future wife of Chaplin.

In general, the production of the picture is still at the highest level. In the 70's Chaplin wrote the author's soundtrack for the film, and in 2011 the picture was included in the National Register of US films. So, Chaplin's unforgettable masterpiece "Kid" became the brightest film production of the 1920s and remains for almost a century now.