Kid Auto Races at Venice

Tramp's first appearance and... he's a punk. Fun and meta at first, at least in the way that it's a movie about movie-making at a time when that was a fresh idea, but wears out its welcome as it's a one-note gag. There's not really any of Chaplin's great comically timed physical gags, it's just him being an a-hole getting in the way of a camera crew as they try to get footage of cars racing by. I wish there was more to it as Chaplin clearly already owns the role, but there's none of the charm or innocence yet. Guess these things would take time to alter, though unlike, say, Mickey Mouse's early appearances (comparing to iconic comic figures of the early 20th century), being an ass doesn't suit the Tramp so well, at least not to this extent (if maybe he'd just interacted with another character or built upon something that'd be one thing).

In 1914 Charlie Chaplin debuted with the Mack Sennett shorts for Keystone. These shorts were made in rapid succession and while some are great, some are ok (like this one) and some are bad. Despite the results they were all released in theaters. These early shorts are pretty much like home videos (like the ones played on AMERICA'S FUNNIEST VIDEOS) with people that do stupid things and in the end they have pratfalls. His tramp character (that debuted here) was still evolving as he switched to Essenay studios a year later. He stopped this evolution process with his full-length movies in the 1920s.

In this short, as I said in the summary, there isn't much plot. The Keystone crew went on a kid auto race and they told Chaplin to just wander around and coming in and out of the track. The only thing that happens beside this is that he is sometimes punched by few adults for getting in the track. The only thing for which this short is important is because we have a first shot of Chaplin's most famous character.

Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)

** (out of 4)

This is a historically important film but it's not a very good one. For the first time we see Charles Chaplin in his Tramp outfit as he causes trouble at a race. There really aren't any laughs in the film but again, it remains interesting because we see Chaplin working out his routine.

Even though the film isn't that good it's still historically important for Chaplin.

Various public domain companies have released the film but for the best quality you should track down the Image release.

... who don't even know that they are the cast. You could do this sort of thing back before there were too many lawyers and too many laws. This is the first time that Chaplin dons the "Little Tramp" persona with his bowler, cane, tight coat, and baggy pants, although it was his second film.

He merely gets in the way of the crowd and the cameramen trying to film said Kid Auto Races at Venice, actually the Junior Vanderbilt Cup race. There is no evidence this race was held prior to or after 1914. Some carts had engines, some did not.

The point is, all of these spectators and relatives are very interested in the outcome of the race, as are the cameramen trying to photograph the event. And this obnoxious fellow keeps stumbling into the street, blocking their view, getting into the line of sight of the cameras, and spectators and cameramen keep pushing him out only to have him stumble back into the street and in the way.

Eventually some of the spectators are actually watching this clown and laughing at him rather than being annoyed. That was the magic of Chaplin even from the beginning. Notice that there are some cops around and that they have no guns, even in a semi-urban setting like this. Also note that they don't interfere with Chaplin. Did the director let the cops in on the joke, maybe give them a few bucks to let them make their movie and then leave? Maybe.

When you watch this, understand that until just a short time before, movies were just "actualities" - the filming of ordinary events such as people going to and from work and the tearing down of a building. Just the year before Chaplin had been a performer in music halls. His relationship to motion pictures was brand new.

This was shot in February 1914, six months before WWI begins and three years before America enters that war. Not quite two years after the sinking of the Titanic, just to give some perspective.

Kid Auto Races in Venice is historical in that it marks Charlie Chaplin's first appearance as The Tramp. In this short film, The Tramp is a spectator in a soap box derby race that is being filmed. Throughout the short, Charlie keeps getting in front of the camera and getting pushed off by either the cameraman or other spectators. In addition, he almost gets knocked off by some of the kid racers! Obviously not much to mention of the plot of this six minute short but for some reason I was constantly amused by Chaplin's constant wandering in and out of the path of where the race cars were going as well as the cameraman's attempts to get him out of the way. Worth a look for film history buffs and the easily amused.