Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Natey & Katy are two friends who love movies and love talking about them. Join them on their cinematic journey!
Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Family Bonds and Timeless Tales
How can a century-old silent film captivate the digital-savvy, screen-obsessed younger generation? Join us for a journey back in time as we explore Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid," a timeless silent film that enchanted our children with its physical comedy and emotional depth. We share our family’s surprising reactions to Chaplin's visual storytelling, relying solely on physical cues and intertitles. Reflecting on its efficient runtime, we celebrate the artistry of shorter films and the enduring blend of humor and heartfelt moments Chaplin delivers. This episode underscores the importance of introducing classic, wholesome entertainment to new generations, showcasing how some masterpieces truly stand the test of time.
We delve into the emotional layers of "The Kid," discussing the heartfelt connections, especially from a parent's perspective, and the humor that resonates even today. We explore specific scenes like the dream sequence, their metaphorical significance, and Chaplin's multifaceted role in creating the film, including his mentorship of child actor Jackie Coogan. As we wrap up, we express our excitement for upcoming explorations of other classic silent films and look forward to discussing "Some Like It Hot" with Marilyn Monroe. Don't miss our heartfelt and humorous walk down memory lane as we revisit the gems of silent cinema and celebrate their timeless impact.
Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new episode of Nadie and Katie at the Movies. I'm your host, nathan aka Nadie, of course, and with me today is my good friend Katie. Hi, katie, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm doing so good, I'm eating Dots pretzels. If you've never had Dots pretzels, you need to, because it'll change your life. This episode is brought to you by. You need to because it'll change your life. This episode is brought to you by dots. Home style pretzels, our twist on pretzels. Have you had these before?
Speaker 1:I believe I have, and unfortunately they're not actually a sponsor of the show, but they should be now with that, you know, blazing review, blazing, sure. Why not blazing review?
Speaker 2:and speaking of blazing reviews.
Speaker 1:We're gonna be talking about a classic silent film from the 19 somethings, starring directed written music composed by the great char Chaplin. We're talking about the kid. Before I get into this movie, of course, as always, I have to go over the synopsis. The tramp cares for an abandoned child, but events put their relationship in jeopardy. The kid stars, of course, charlie Chaplin, edna Perviance, a young Jackie Coogan and Carl Miller as the man. We had talked about this before recording that.
Speaker 1:I actually watched this movie with my children and I was actually very surprised because, like I stated before, this is a silent film.
Speaker 1:There's no talking whatsoever, it's all music the entire time and it's like over an hour long movie, so it's not a short film, and so I was very surprised that my daughter actually was just like glued to the screen the entire time. Now my son could probably care less. I did take a picture of them watching it and I sent it to Katie, and it's one of those moments where, as soon as I took the picture, my son got up and walked out of the room, but my daughter was just like immersed in it, and that was really cool to experience, because I do consider myself a fan of classic films, and so I think it is important to introduce those types of movies to our children, especially in this world of crazy media now. So to find those movies that are wholesome and don't have anything questionable in them and introduce those to our children and see this is real entertainment, child it's, it's nice. So did you watch this with ben, or did you watch this by yourself? Or with scott, or? Or how did you view this movie?
Speaker 2:well, and actually I have a small correction on you. It's under an hour, it's 52 minutes, which is crazy that this was at the time like a feature length film and looking back I'm like, hmm, I could go for some like hour long movies, like that'd be kind of nice instead of the two hour three hour. I watched it by myself. I then watched a few little clips and even in that small amount of time he watched with me and I assume maybe the same for your daughter.
Speaker 2:I think that really speaks to the art of silent film, because a child doesn't quite have the verbiage and maybe the vernacular and an understanding of the world completely, but when there's so much physical drama, physical humor and everything that's taking place is body cues, I feel like kids are able to pick up on that stuff very quickly.
Speaker 2:So that doesn't surprise me at all, actually, that your daughter was interested in it and could get some grasp of the storyline, even at her age, without any script. I mean, I wasn't sure how I'd feel, nathan, because you know I love to talk and I don't think I've ever watched a silent film in my life, like I've maybe watched small scenes from one, but never, ever in my life 50-something minutes, and I thought maybe it would get a little annoying. I was not expecting the cue cards, so like it's a silent film, but they they don't only rely on physical right. So there's a few times where there's like a text that comes up and it like has a quote, so it's like saying, oh, this person says this, and some ways I feel like that's cheating. I don't know the art of silent film though, like how that works.
Speaker 1:Well, the cue cards give like a gist of what's being said, because there are moments where the mouths are moving and they're obviously saying something, but there is no cue card. So I think it's mostly just to give like a basically like a synopsis of what's going on, because sometimes I believe there was like biblical, like quotes being put up there and just different things that had to do with the scene itself. And yes, there were times where there was quotations. But even that, I feel like it's kind of like with subtitles Sometimes subtitles summarize what's being said. It's not actually what's being said, and so that's why I feel like this is like the original subtitle for films. But I'm actually going to correct you on your correction of me, because, according to imdb, this movie is an hour and eight minutes long.
Speaker 1:So it's not under an hour, it's an hour and eight minutes. So I was wrong that it was like I think I said an hour and eight minutes. So I was wrong that it was like I think I said an hour and 52 minutes. So we're both kind of wrong. But anyway, that's besides the point.
Speaker 1:I hesitate to say there was anything negative because, yes, it's a silent film. Yes, we're used to action speaking, but it just goes back to what you said the power of these movies. Back in that time they had to rely on the physicality and charlie chaplin was known for that. Buster keaton was another very famous silent film guy. He was very into physical comedy, you know, pushing forward the plot, and with this movie, yes, there's a lot of physical comedy and majority of the time it is a comedic film.
Speaker 1:But there are some serious heartwarming moments and I think it's because, from what I read about this movie, charlie Chaplin really wanted to portray his own childhood. He did not have a good childhood and that's why when he saw Jackie Coogan, who plays the kid in the movie, he saw him in real life. He wanted to basically give him the life that he didn't have, because Jackie Coogan's parents were not that great. They basically took all his money that he ever got from movies and basically left him bankrupt by the time he was an adult. And so Charlie Chaplin was a part of his life, throughout basically his whole life, and was there for him, supported him, because he saw that he was starting to have, I guess, the life that Charlie Chaplin had himself, and so he wanted to shield him from that.
Speaker 1:And so it's really awesome to watch this movie, knowing the behind the scenes of their relationship outside the film. And also a little tidbit I don't know if you know this, katie, there might be a few people listening that might know this Jackie Coogan would grow up to be Uncle Fester from the classic Addams Family 60s sitcom. So it's really cool to see his humble beginnings, because I believe this is the very first film he was ever in, because I'm pretty sure it says, and introducing Jackie Coogan oh right, well, yeah, and he's five years old, so probably this is the first one.
Speaker 2:Wow, yeah, nathan, you're spot on with so many things that you brought up One I'll come back to, which is the behind the scenes interesting facts. But you're right, there's so much, not just physical comedy but also the drama, and I think that's why this became so famous and why it still is a legacy standing is it was a first of its kind. Why it still is a legacy standing is it was a first of its kind where I would find it to be difficult to make something that's silent anything but funny, like I picture, three Stooges type humor. So to be able to make something pull at your heartstrings while also being funny was probably very new at that time. You know, we didn't have like the romance comedy or these like melodrama comedies out there yet, um, and again, all this stuff being done silently. It reminded me of doing skits with you, nathan. Oh, it's just like I think we take for granted how much we learned from people in that era of how to have physical comedy. I even think back to, um, some of the bits I've done with you and even some with my, our friend steven, where you're just and you're doing this like funny chase scene like almost every skit we did when we were doing skits together had a chase scene and you know there's multiple chase scenes in this show and it just helped me open my eyes to maybe where all that originated.
Speaker 2:But last that last thing to comment on what you said is the personal life. I actually found the personal life stuff to be detracting from the movie a bit, because Charlie Chapman was like extremely talented and had a troubled beginning, but he was also like sketchy and I didn't realize he was literally at the end of his life, exiled. I did not know that he was kicked out of the united states of america for basically being accused of being a commie and a pervert. Um, because he kept marrying first wife was eight, like 17, next wife was 16, next wife was 18. He would have like affairs with young girls. So you're like, oh, okay, um, if I ignore all that and didn't know that I liked the movie.
Speaker 1:I would actually recommend you watch the movie Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr, because that that does give a lot of the backstory of of him as a person and, yes, it does go over the disgusting weird stuff, the disgusting weird stuff. But they actually ended up giving him like a lifetime achievement or some kind of award and allowed him to return to the united states to get that award. It's kind of funny that robert downey jr played him, because robert downey jr himself had a bad past and was kind of shunned and exiled from Hollywood for a little bit and then you see where he is now. So that was cool that he played him. But, like I said, there wasn't real. I don't think there was anything negative. It's kind of hard to nitpick on a silent film because this is like the epitome of motion pictures right here. Like this is. It's not like the very first movie, obviously, but it's like the standard for physical comedy, the standard of storytelling.
Speaker 2:Well, and I don't. I find physical humor funny, but because it's almost so integrated in our culture, now I didn't find it that funny. If that makes sense, I didn't appreciate it I was cracking up sense like I didn't appreciate I was cracking up laughing. I was.
Speaker 1:I'm still laughing like it was cute like the, the fight scene between between him and and the other guy. It's funny because of how fast it is, how fast moving and and how somewhat cheesy it is and how over the top it is. It because, again, it brings you back to the, the building block, upon what we have today, and so the fact that I still think physical comedy is funny today I I'm gonna think the beginnings of it is also very humorous and very funny that's fair.
Speaker 2:And I didn't find it not funny. I think I just I probably would say I felt more connected emotionally with it than comedy. So like, yes, there was funny bits, but I found it to be and maybe it's because I'm a mother or a parent I connected more on that level. I found that to be more a stronger feeling for me than humor. But I have a negative for you which is I guess it was creative and would have been really cool at the time and had some fun editing in it where he's flying like an angel, but the whole scene where he's like a dream sequence and he's sitting on his porch and dreaming of being in heaven, I think that was lost on me.
Speaker 1:I'm assuming it was some kind of big metaphor, but it felt so out of place and random and it went on for a lot longer than I feel like it should I mean, yeah, it didn't really make too much sense of what was going on and you know, we could probably like, with no country for old men, we could probably look up an article and find the meaning and be like, oh okay, now I appreciate it a lot more. It didn't take me out of the movie that much, I didn't find a big issue with that, I just I think I just appreciated it for the classic film, that it is the, the basic building block of, like I said before, storytelling and physical comedy, because I mean the fact that you have to think about that. He directed this, he wrote, wrote it, he composed the music which I still think is crazy. He acted in it. He sought out he didn't seek out Jackie Coogan, but he found him and saw something in him, saw the potential of this child actor, the potential of this child actor, and he went on to do Oliver Twist, he did Tom Sawyer and again he went on to become the classic Uncle Fester. So and it was basically because of someone, a mentor, a male figure in his life, that saw something in him. So that speaks to me as a male teacher who teaches theater and seeing, being able to see the potential in my students.
Speaker 1:So this isn't just about the movie itself, it's about how it relates to my work, or being a father too, because obviously the the serious moments got to me as well, and the fact that at the end of the day, I was able to share this movie with my daughter and just enjoy it with her, because she would turn to me and say you know, laugh, and say you know, mention something that was funny. So it was just a nice, a nice movie that I could watch with my child and just enjoy it for what it was, and so that's why I'm going to go ahead and give it my review. I'm going to go ahead and give it my review. I'm going to go ahead and give this a perfect six out of six because, again, it's the building block of storytelling, and the fact that it still is able to keep the attention of both a 37 year old guy and a four year old little girl speaks volumes to the power of what charlie chaplin did in this movie well spoken.
Speaker 2:Well spoken, I will also give it a six I. I really love your wording building block. I think that's a very good choice of how to describe this movie. It really is a building block, and again, not just for humor, like I keep coming back to bill globowski, which was just so dumb and trying to be funny to. To me, this was not just a comedy. It really truly had all the things you would want in a movie not just comedy, but a true storyline and characters you wanted to get behind. And yes, it is incredible that he composed I've got the song in my head. It's amazing he did all of that himself.
Speaker 2:I really did appreciate this movie and I would suggest it. I would highly suggest this one to people. I was telling my husband about it um, earlier tonight was like, hey, this was actually one that's not a long watch and worth your time. I would say I thought it was good and it really does make me want to go back and maybe watch some more silent films. I might. I'm tempted. Well, like I said, you got buster keaton, you got nosferatu which is like one of the first.
Speaker 1:You could be wanting to go back and maybe watch some more silent films. I might. I'm tempted. Well, like I said, you got Buster Keaton, you got nose for raw too, which is like one of the first Dracula movies that they're actually making a making, a remake of. Because that's what you know, that's what Hollywood does. You know, they just take classic movies and remake it and ruin it and do stupid stuff. But that's besides the point. We're not talking about that anymore. That is the kid. And now we're going right to our last movie of August, which I can't believe this month is already over. It feels like we're almost at the end of the year already. So take a listen to what we're talking about Our last episode of August. What's the matter now? How?
Speaker 2:do they?
Speaker 1:walk in these things. How do they keep their?
Speaker 2:balance Must be episode of August.
Speaker 1:We're chatting about another classic film with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and of course I forgot the other guy it's some like it hot. This will be a very interesting movie to talk about because of the plot line, so I'm very excited to talk about that. Katie, have you ever heard or seen some like it hot before?
Speaker 2:Well, I've seen 20 minutes of it. Does that count?
Speaker 1:No, no, it doesn't.
Speaker 2:I've heard the phrase Some Like it Hot, like. That's just a phrase I've heard. I don't know if that came from the movie or if the movie was named after the phrase, but I knew nothing about it. And I have yet to see.
Speaker 2:Marilyn Monroe has not made it into the movie yet I'm only 20 minutes in but I'm super excited to watch her. I mean, obviously I know who Marilyn Monroe is the iconic blonde hair and big, bright red lipstick and the little white dress and the wind blowing up and making her dress go up. I mean, she was like a sex icon of the time or just the girl everyone wanted to be. And I'm really curious to see her in basic in like a comedy and see what her acting is like. And I truly have never actually sat and watched her before. And yes, to your point, there's some gentlemen dressing as women in this movie. It reminds me of maybe it's like some some white chick vibes. So I'm I'm curious to see it hasn't gotten to that part yet, but I'm excited women in this movie. It reminds me of maybe some white chick vibes.
Speaker 1:So I'm curious to see. I haven't gotten to that part yet, but I'm excited to watch the rest. So we'll talk about Something Like it Hot next week. And to end with this episode, I actually have a quote from the kid. I know it's crazy because it's a silent film, but I have a quote. I think it's beautiful Title card a picture with a smile and perhaps a tear.
