The Circus (1928)

The Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus.

Director:

Charles Chaplin (as Charlie Chaplin)

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (as Charlie Chaplin)

Stars:

Charles Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, Al Ernest Garcia

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Al Ernest Garcia	...	The Circus Proprietor and Ring Master (as Allan Garcia)
Merna Kennedy	...	His Step-Daughter - A Circus Rider
Harry Crocker	...	Rex - A Tight Rope Walker
George Davis	...	A Magician
Henry Bergman	...	An Old Clown
Tiny Sandford	...	The Head Property Man (as Stanley J. Sandford)
John Rand	...	An Assistant Property Man
Steve Murphy	...	A Pickpocket
Charles Chaplin	...	A Tramp (as Charlie Chaplin)

Storyline

The Tramp finds himself at a circus where he is promptly 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 circus owner immediately hires him, but discovers that the Tramp cannot be funny on purpose, so he takes advantage of the situation by making the Tramp a janitor who just happens to always be in the Bigtop at showtime. Unaware of this exploitation, the Tramp falls for the owner's lovely acrobatic stepdaughter, who is abused by her father. His chances seem good, until a dashing rival comes in and Charlie feels he has to compete with him.

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Plot Keywords:

ring | black and white | black and white film | silent film | silent movie | 

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Taglines:

FREAKS, FUN, FROLIC OF THE SMALL TOWN CIRCUS, WITH CHARLIE AS A TIGHT ROPE WALKER. (Print Ad- Steuben Courier,((Bath, NY)) 22 march 1929)

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Official Sites:

Instagram

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1928 (Canada)

Also Known As:

The Circus

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$900,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$26,916

Company Credits

Production Co:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

72 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film received a 4K restoration in 2019 by the Cineteca di Bologna at L'Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with Roy Export S.A.S. and with support provided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Criterion Collection as part of the Chaplin Project. The restoration used a second generation full-frame dupe negative preserved by Roy Export S.A.S. while the soundtrack was restored from the original sound negative which was digitized in 2K with a sound scanner, digitally cleaned and mastered.

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Goofs

While the Tramp is locked into the cage, the lion is lying with his head some distance from the side wall in most shots until he gets up. But in one close-up shot just after the Tramp caught the water tray, the lion's head is right next to that wall.

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Quotes

Merna: Bye. Thank you for the egg.

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Alternate Versions

Chaplin replaced the original credits of this film when he reissued it in 1969. In their place there is an opening scene featuring Merna Kennedy on the trapeze while Chaplin sings a song, then the image fade to the credits of that version with no cast nor technical credits.

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Connections

Referenced in Changeling (2008)

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Soundtracks

Swing Little Girl
(1969) (uncredited)
Written and Performed by Charles Chaplin for the 1969 release

User Reviews

One Of Chaplin's Best; Certainly Underrated

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.