- Year :
- 1914
- Cast :
- Production :
- Keystone
- Description :
- Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal. is enormously important as the comedy in which audiences first saw Chaplin’s Tramp character. It is also invaluable as it affords an opportunity to examine the reactions of Chaplin’s first audience—the spectators at the car race—to the comic antics of the Tramp. Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal. was filmed at the second annual 'Pushmobile Parade,' a children’s car race, held on Sunday January 11, 1914 in Venice, California. The improvised film (allegedly filmed in a mere forty-five minutes) has as its comic situation the Tramp managing to get in the way of the motion picture cameraman who is attempting to film the event. At first the spectators do not know what to make of the funny little man. Is he really a nuisance? As the action continues, their puzzlement changes to genuine amusement. Unlike other screen comedians, Chaplin immediately positions himself as one with his audience. A split-reel film (running 500 feet or less), Kid Auto Races at Venice, Cal. was originally released with the educational film Olives and their Oil. Finished and shipped: January 17, 1914 Released: February 7, 1914 Scenario: Reed Heustis Producer: Mack Sennett Director: Henry Lehrman Length: Split reel
- DVD & Blu-ray :