KID AUTO RACES AT VENICE, released Feb. 7th, 1914

This was the first film released to the public in which Chaplin appeared as the Little Tramp. Another Keystone comedy, Mabel’s Strange Predicament, in which he also appears in his tramp costume, was very likely shot before Kid Auto Races, but wasn’t released until afterwards because it took longer to edit. Chaplin himself also recalled that MSP was filmed first.

Chaplin biographer David Robinson refers to the “extraordinary phenomenon” that Kid Auto Races at Venice is, noting in particular that “at the time it was shot, the Chaplin persona had still not appeared on the screen. The spectators at the races were therefore the first people anywhere to glimpse the figure that was to become universally famous. We can observe this first audience, as they progress from initial bewilderment and embarrassment at the antics of this obstreperous little vagabond to uninhibited laughter as they realize he is an entertainer. Kid Auto Races is thus incidentally a documentary record of the world’s first encounter with its greatest clown.”