''Kid Auto Races at Venice'' (also known as ''The Pest'') is a 1914 American film starring Charles Chaplin. It is the first film in which his " Little Tramp" character makes an appearance before the public. The first film to be produced that featured the character was actually '' Mabel's Strange Predicament''; it was shot a few days before ''Kid Auto Races'' but released two days after it; this film, meanwhile, was released only five days after the first film in which Chaplin appeared, '' Making a Living''. ''Kid Auto Races'' was inducted into the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

on December 14, 2020.

Plot

Made by Keystone Studios and directed by Henry Lehrman, the movie portrays Chaplin as a spectator at a " pushcar" race in Venice, Los Angeles. The film was shot during the Junior Vanderbilt Cup, an actual race with Chaplin and Lehrman improvising gags in front of real-life spectators. The film is presented at first like a genuine newsreel, with Chaplin's attention-seeking spectator getting in the way of the camera, causing great frustration to the cameraman. Lehrman begins by roughly pushing an obnoxiously persistent Chaplin away, but eventually he starts knocking Chaplin to the ground. Unusually, the camera breaks the fourth wall to show a second camera filming (as though it were the first) in order to better explain the joke. At this stage, Chaplin gets in the way only of the visible camera on screen, not the actual filming camera. In this way, the filming camera takes on a spectator's viewpoint, and ''Kid Auto Races'' becomes one of the first public films to show a movie camera and cameraman in operation.

Cast

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

–

The Tramp The Tramp (''Charlot'' in several languages), also known as the Little Tramp, was English actor Charlie Chaplin's most memorable on-screen character and an icon in world cinema during the era of silent film. ''The Tramp (film), The Tramp'' i ...

* Henry Lehrman – Film Director * Frank D. Williams – Cameraman * Gordon Griffith – Boy *Billy Jacobs – Boy *Charlotte Fitzpatrick – Girl *Thelma Salter – Girl

Reviews

In the year that the film was released, a reviewer from the silent movie periodical ''Bioscope'' wrote, "Some sensational happenings are witnessed during the contests between the baby cars, while the funny man persistently obstructs the eager cameramen in their operations."McDonald, Gerald D.; Conway, Michael; Ricci, Mark (1965). ''The Films of Charlie Chaplin''. New York: Citadel Press, page 28. A reviewer from the silent movie periodical ''The Cinema'' noted, "''Kid Auto Races'' struck us as about the funniest film we have ever seen. When we subsequently saw Chaplin in more ambitious efforts, our opinion that the Keystone Company had made the capture of their career was strengthened. Chaplin is a born screen comedian; he does things we have never seen done on the screen before."

Junior Vanderbilt Cup

By 1914, the Vanderbilt Cup had become an important automobile racing event in the United States, and the 1914 event was to be held in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. The city decided to sponsor a junior version of the event, with several classes, zero-cylinder pushcars, one-cylinder engines, two-cylinder engines, and with age limits for the drivers. Some classes had no engines and used a ramp to accelerate the cars in a manner similar to soap box derby races. Other classes used small engines. Chaplin's movie includes one scene shot at the bottom of the ramp used for the engineless races. There is no evidence that Junior Vanderbilt Cups were held either before or after the 1914 event. Actual silver cups were awarded.

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * * – A different version which is missing the ending. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kid Auto Races At Venice 1914 films 1914 comedy films 1914 short films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films 1910s sports comedy films American auto racing films American black-and-white films American silent short films American sports comedy films Articles containing video clips English-language sports comedy films Films directed by Henry Lehrman Films produced by Mack Sennett Films set in Los Angeles Keystone Studios films Silent American comedy films Surviving American silent films United States National Film Registry films English-language comedy short films