You won't be disappointed!

Good concept, poorly executed.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Charles Chaplin in his second appearance in film, which is also the debut of his famous character the Tramp. One can easily guess that the aforementioned character was not as defined in attitude yet at that time, since in this he is portrayed as a more irritant "intruder" who constantly interrupts the filming of a kids car race, much to the anger of the cameraman/director (played by Henry Lehrman, obviously). While many may find the film a bit repetitive or a one-joke situation stretched to 6 minutes or more, Charles shows that he can carry a film, giving his best on his performance.Regarding the technical aspects, I found it curious how Lehrman used the cameras to first show the interrupted race from the point of view of a main camera, then using another one to show the intrusive tramp who gets in the middle of the "main filming".For any Chaplin enthusiast, this is a must see.

THE NAME OF the venue being 'Venice', needless to say it is set in Venice, California and not in Italy. If it had been in the European city of that name, the races would, of necessity, be contests of speed between competing gondolas.AS WE ALL KNOW, a story, any story be it Mother Goose, Mickey Spillane or a Movie, has a beginning, a middle and an end. KID AUTO RACES dares to differ with that axiom, flying right in its face. Of course, the argument can be made that there is no real story here, at least not a written one. Improvisation ruled the day.THAT INDEED MAY well be true. There is, after all, an exception to any rule. The only exception here being to the rule that states that; "There is an exception to an rule!" THIS ODDITY OF a one reeler, shot on split reel,* with some egg-head scientific subject matter is truly as unique as any movie. Whatever story there was is credited to Director, Henry "Pathe" Lehrman; who incidentally played the part of the Director, on screen. This being a pure case of "typecasting", plain and simple.OTHER THAN THE appearance of Chaplin and Lehrman's names in the cast, no other actors are credited. There is perhaps a proverbial "Cast of Thousands" filmed; but then, they were spectators of the actual event that was taking place there. Jus think, if Mr. Sennett had to pay all of those spectators as Extra$, ju$t what it would have done to Keystone's Finance$? HOWEVER, THE LITTLE film does succeed in at least a couple of areas.FIRST OF ALL, Chaplin's mugging throughout for approximately eight minutes or so carried the whole thing. Amazingly, his constantly jumping in front of the camera and mugging tirelessly never seemed to bore us The Little Tramp's tenacity and variation of silly facial expression revealed that: A. The public has not changed. Just watch any new report and observe the clowns who act the fool; knowing that the world is watching.B. Charlie really knew his public.SECONDLY AND MOST importantly, with the production and release of KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE, Chaplin, Sennett and Lehrman collaborated to give the world The Little Tramp! FOR THIS WE say, way to go, Guys! NOTE:* We had read that the rest of the reel was occupied with something like "Arachnids of the World" or some such other rot.

This was the film which introduced Charlie Chaplin's Tramp character to the world and, while by today's standards it isn't particularly entertaining, given the quality of the competition at that time it's easy to understand why Chaplin (and the tramp) became popular so quickly.Back in the early days of cinema the studios cranked out films at an incredible rate just to keep up with demand, and it's understandable that much of what was produced was well below standard. A director, a cameraman and two or three actors would wander the streets looking for suitable locations, and then, when they found somewhere, just make stuff up and hope it was funny.Most of the time it was pretty lame, but Chaplin here at least shows a modicum of talent and originality as he lampoons the average man's propensity to abandon his dignity and self-respect if it means he can stand in front of a movie camera for a few seconds. It still goes on today - just check out the witless oafs who crouch slightly in the background and wave their arms while grinning inanely while a news reporter delivers his TV bulletin on the streets - and it at least shows a level of observation lacking from most movies of its day. The joke lasts too long - even Chaplin can't wring six-minutes worth of laughs out of such a simple concept - but it's still fairly interesting to watch.

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.