The Child and the Tramp is a 1911 American silent short comedy film directed by Bannister Merwin. It was produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company and was released on 28 April 1911. The film, a short, had an approximative length of 1000ft of footage (one reel). It adapts a story by Albert Mallory. The plot revolves around a tramp who refuses to become a burglar and is welcomed into a family that adopts him as one of their own.

Plot

A contemporary magazine summarises the plot: "Reckles is a tramp who finds that two of his old road companions have "struck it rich" through a fake mining scheme. Some months later, "Reckless" lands in Southern California for the winter, and in asking for a "hand-out" is astonished to be received as one of the family and invited to dinner. He lingers to replace a broken toy, for he is skilled as a wood carver, and his work leads the father to ask why he does not work for a living."