Cinema was in its relative infancy when an English immigrant to the United States donned a bowler hat, fake moustache and notched cane, and gave the world one of the most famous characters. Charlie Chaplin had debuted in a movie called "Making a Living" (as a non-Tramp character) and had filmed a movie before "Kid Auto Races at Venice", but this was the first released movie in which audiences saw the bumbling but kindhearted man in the ill-fitting clothes.Because cinema was a new phenomenon, movies didn't yet have complex plots, and there was no sound, no color, and no star system. It wasn't until a few months after the release that Chaplin directed his first movie, and so one might interpret the Tramp's interfering with the filming of the races as Chaplin's trying to figure out the path that he wanted to take in movies. Well, we should be glad that he took the path that he did, because he gave us some of the greatest movies ever. Most importantly, anyone who likes to learn about cinema history should definitely watch "Kid Auto Races at Venice".Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter Oona co-starred on "Game of Thrones". I wonder how "Game of Thrones" would be if the Little Tramp were a character.

Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914) marks the film debut of "The Tramp". A goofy and slightly odd fellow who ruins a filmmaker's filming at a race track. That silly tramp time after time keeps on mugging for the camera getting in front of the action out on the race track. Not even the threat of physical violence deters The Tramp from sticking his face in front of the camera. A very strange first appearance of one of the most iconic characters in film history.It would be a few more films until Chaplin worked out the Tramp. But his first role is quite interesting and if you love Charlie Chaplin's work then you have to see this short.

As many reviewers noted, Chaplin's second film is historically important in so far as it is the first screen appearance of him dressed as the tramp. However, the film remains just that, a historical landmark. As a comedy, it is experimental in that it has a factual setting rather than a fictional one in a studio. The film has something to do with the tramp trying to get a picture of himself to send to his girlfriend, as the bookends of the film make clear. However, the film consists of nothing more than the tramp deliberately blocking the camera crew trying to film the kids' auto races at Venice. The director of the crew (and of the film) shoves the tramp back several times, so he can continue filming. The most amusing thing is that the tramp has his back to the autos turning the corner where filming occurs, so one wonders whether Chaplin received direction to get out of the way ahead of time or whether it was all ad-libbed like much of the other films of the period. As a Keystone comedy, it lacks panache. * of 4 stars.

If this hadn't been the Tramp's premiere, there'd be no sense in watching it. Very primitive comedy -- the whole film is a 7-minute shtick that consists of Chaplin standing in front of a cameraman who's trying to shoot an auto race. This is repeated for the length of the film.Like most of Chaplin's first one and two-reelers, the comedy is almost completely obscured by the crudity of the film technique. As in most of the 1914 films, it's sometimes almost impossible to make out what's happening on screen, the technical side of things is so elementary. But it IS the tramps first appearance, so it will always have that claim on our attention.