Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors.
He did do better than 'Kid Auto Races at Venice', his directing debut and the short that introduced us to the iconic character The Tramp. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is a long way from a career high, but does have historical significance for obvious reasons.
'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and a good deal of other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious.
For someone who was new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is not bad at all.
While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable for so early on and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick. The Tramp did become more likeable later but again he was still evolving.
Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is humorous, sweet and easy to like, though the emotion is not quite there. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short.
Overall, far from one of Chaplin's best but pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox
He did do better than 'Kid Auto Races at Venice', his directing debut and the short that introduced us to the iconic character The Tramp. Can understand why the Keystone period suffered from not being as best remembered or highly remembered than his later efforts, but they are mainly decent and important in their own right. 'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is a long way from a career high, but does have historical significance for obvious reasons.
'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is not as hilarious, charming or touching as his later work and a good deal of other shorts in the same period. The story is flimsy and the production values not as audacious.
For someone who was new to the film industry and had literally just moved on from their stage background, 'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is not bad at all.
While not audacious, the film hardly looks ugly, is more than competently directed and is appealingly played. Chaplin looks comfortable for so early on and shows his stage expertise while opening it up that it doesn't become stagy or repetitive shtick. The Tramp did become more likeable later but again he was still evolving.
Although the humour, charm and emotion was done even better and became more refined later, 'Kid Auto Races at Venice' is humorous, sweet and easy to like, though the emotion is not quite there. It moves quickly and doesn't feel too long or short.
Overall, far from one of Chaplin's best but pretty good. 7/10 Bethany Cox