The Silent Clowns Film Series is New York’s longest-running regularly scheduled silent film showcase. Our programming reaches the serious film buff by including rarely-screened titles and rare prints, yet it also introduces kids and new audiences to the classics of the silent screen. Screenings feature live piano accompaniment by MoMA’s Ben Model, with an introduction and Q&A by film historians Model and Steve Massa.
When Charlie Chaplin became famous as “The Little Tramp,” he wasn’t content to just have his character be a figure of fun, so he turned Charlie into a comic underdog with real emotions. A big step in this development was his first feature The Kid (1921), a film made “with a smile – and, perhaps a tear,” which made a huge star of little Jackie Coogan. Our extra added attraction, The Kid Reporter (1923), stars Baby Peggy, one of the child stars that followed in Jackie Coogan’s success.