1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Early Days of the Early Days, November 15, 2008
This review is from: Chaplin - The Collection, Vol. 3 - Kid Auto Races in Venice / The Rival Mashers / A Night Out (DVD)
I have enjoyed most of the Charlie Chaplin movies I've had the opportunity to see. Much of his work has truly amazed me while others merely display a man of great talent. I noticed, over the last several years, that the short works of his seem to always be the same 6-10 movies. I'm talking about "A Dog's Life", "The Kid", "A Day's Pleasure", "Shoulder Arms", "Pay Day" and the like. Where are the 50 or so films of his that never seem to be shown. Well, I just watched the 3 shorts on this DVD and I think I know why I haven't seen them before. The first film in this collection; "Kids Auto Races at Venice" would garner an over-rated "1 Star" from me. Its' lone claim to fame is that it was the first film to show the Chaplin "uniform". Other than that, it is a 30-second joke that lasts for 11 minutes (without geting any better or adding anything to what we already saw). I had to tell myself that this was the very early days of movies and, I suppose, nobody knew what would work well until they tried it.
The other two movies in this DVD were an improvement. There were moments of excellence (especially in "A Night Out"). However, the more visible aforementioned films that do appear from time to time on TV do it all better and with a more coherent script. I will continue to search out the Chaplin work's I haven't yet seen. However, I will continue in that quest with a greater sense of reality.
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