Kid Auto Races at Venice (1914): Chaplin’s First Photobomb

Alright, so. Kid Auto Races at Venice. The title alone, svenska polare, just gives you a mental image of clunky cars made out of kitchen chairs and broken dreams rolling through some sunburnt California side street. I remember the first time I saw this film – it was, believe it or not, at a silent film night in Stockholm, some rainy November, back when you couldn’t just stumble across everything online. The film’s only about five minutes and features the restless legend Charlie Chaplin, directed by Henry Lehrman (he’s not as much of a household name as Chaplin, obviously, but still, respect where it’s due).

Now, I won’t lie – the first time, I was a bit confused. The ‘plot’ is essentially little Charlie, as the Tramp, butt into a camera crew’s shot during a soap box derby. That’s…it. But then, after a while, you see what Chaplin’s doing. He keeps getting in the way, steals focus, mugs at the camera like a mischievous cousin at midsommar when there’s herring left. It’s hilarious, in the most low-tech way. No chase scenes, no pratfall into an outhouse, just one man and a camera and pure anarki.

There’s something charming about the way he’s totally shameless, like när man råkar gå rätt in in i nån annans turistbild och bara är pinsam. Sometimes I feel like that guy, wandering around Södermalm, getting in strangers’ way just by accident. Who hasn’t been there? The nerve it must’ve taken in 1914! Can you imagine trying that at a Swedish school graduation today? You’d be viral in a second, but Chaplin did it when “viral” meant your face was on a biscuit tin in Västerås.

I dunno if it’s a proper “movie” – it’s more like an accidental sketch? Or just Chaplin inventing trolling before the internet. Maybe that’s the point. I’m not really sure if I’d call it must-see, but it’s like a peculiar fossil: jagged, imperfect, slightly awkward, but somehow… very much alive. Perfect film for a fika with friends who think old things are boring – this’ll shut ’em up.

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