Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914)

The Little Tramp

Here's a piece of film history.  Charlie Chaplin appears for the first time as his "Little Tramp"character in Kid Auto Races at Venice.  The plot of this one is pretty straightforward. A camera crew is attempting to film a kid's race, but one of the spectators keeps finding his way into the director's viewfinder.  How can the film crew get rid of this guy without getting him killed by the oncoming traffic?

I was a little underwhelmed by this one.  I expected it to be something more than the same joke over and over.  The only thing that keeps it from being entirely boring is Chaplin's performance.  All of his physical humor is on display here.  I love the way he nonchalantly wanders into the shot.

Early in the film the movie pans to follow Chaplin across the race course.  It is also important to note that this movie is the first I have watched that is improved. The main actors went to an actual race with their camera crew and figured out there movie on site.  All of the spectators were just there for a race.

This one is good for the Chaplin completist, but otherwise wears out its welcome quickly, despite being only six minutes long.  One interesting note: there are apparently multiple cuts of this film.  The movie is listed at 11 minutes long in multiple place.  The only cuts i could find average a little more than half of that.

Watched on YouTube
Picture from Look Back in Anger