The Circus (1928) 8.0
The Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus. Director:Charles ChaplinWriter:Charles Chaplin |
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The Circus (1928) 8.0
The Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus. Director:Charles ChaplinWriter:Charles Chaplin |
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| Complete credited cast: | |||
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Al Ernest Garcia | ... |
The Circus Proprietor and Ring Master
(as Allan Garcia)
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Merna Kennedy | ... |
Merna, His Step-Daughter - A Circus Rider
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Harry Crocker | ... |
Rex - A Tight Rope Walker
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George Davis | ... |
Professor Bosco - A Magician
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Henry Bergman | ... |
An Old Clown
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Tiny Sandford | ... |
The Head Property Man
(as Stanley J. Sandford)
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John Rand | ... |
An Assistant Property Man
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Steve Murphy | ... |
A Pickpocket
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| Charles Chaplin | ... |
A Tramp
(as Charlie Chaplin)
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Charlie's Tramp character finds himself at a circus where he is promptly gets chased around by the police who think he is a pickpocket. Running into the bigtop, he is an accidental sensation with his hilarious efforts to elude the police. The ringmaster/owner immediately hires him, but discovers the Tramp cannot be funny on purpose, so he takes advantage of the situation by making the Tramp a janitor just happens to always in the Bigtop at showtime. Unaware of this exploitation, the Tramp falls for the owner's lovely acrobatic daughter, who is abused by her father. His chances seem good, until a dashing rival comes in and Charlies feels he has to compete with him. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@home.com>
I enjoyed this a lot more the second time when I could see it on a very clear DVD print. I don't know why that would make a difference with the story, but it did as I found it very good for the entire distance, although that's just a scant 69 minutes.
In the story, Charlie Chaplin does his normally-great physical slapstick so well that he accidentally becomes a hit at the circus, which is run by a nasty man (Allan Garcia) who regularly beats his sweet step-daughter, played by a very pretty Merna Kennedy. Charlie, of course, gets smitten by her and comes to her rescue.
This movie has a different kind of ending that what you'd normally see for a comedy but it's inspiring as Chaplin performs a noble deed. (However, Kennedy's character is in question as she seems satisfied to marry either of two men. Huh?)
Chaplin's timing and clever slapstick routines never fail to amaze me. Even though silent films aren't seen by many people these days, it's works of art like this that will endure forever. This is not of one of Chaplin's more famous movies.....but it should be. I think it's one of his best.