Customer Reviews

The Circus

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It doesn't have the raw sentiment of CITY LIGHTS or the social relevance of either MODERN TIMES or THE GREAT DICTATOR, but for pure laugh-out-loud moments, THE CIRCUS is probably Chaplin's finest straight-ahead comedy.

The plot is fairly straightforward -- Tramp joins circus, falls in love, tries to vanquish a rival suitor, then (in an ending of typical Chaplinian pathos) arranges for the rival suitor to get the girl. However, Chaplin packs the story with enough gags, extended jokes, and visual tricks to keep the film moving at a frenetic pace, even in its moments of sweetness.

The setting of the circus naturally lends itself to plenty of comic elements, and Chaplin makes the most of them in some unexpected ways. For example, there's the expected Locked In The Cage with The Sleeping Lion joke (which has subsequently and successfully been played to the hilt in Bugs Bunny cartoons), but Chaplin gives it a graceful twist with the addition of a pan of water that'll have you on the edge of your seat as he tries frantically not to drop it.

But Chaplin doesn't just use the circus to showcase gags -- he also uses the trappings to advance some extended and complicated jokes. The opening moments of the film, for example, feature the Tramp being mistaken for a pickpocket. After a full-out chase, the Tramp, the real pickpocket, and a policeman finally end up in a funhouse, complete with animated figures and a hall of mirrors. At this point, there are two wonderful visual jokes -- the first involves the Tramp's inability to pick up a dropped hat in a hall of mirrors(in what must have been an excrutiatingly technical shot to avoid reflecting the camera.) Chaplin, ever the perfectionist, executes the scene brilliantly. The second joke -- and the one which gets the biggest belly laughs -- involves the Tramp and the hapless pickpocket pretending to be animated figures to avoid being nabbed by the policeman. When Chaplin conks the crook over the head with his own cosh, then rotates mechanically to laugh giddily . . . well, there's hardly a funnier moment in film. Suffice it to say, the crook is caught, but only after ten minutes of gags to neatly bring the extended Mistaken Identity Joke to a neat end.

Chaplin also plays out a jaw-dropping tightrope walking scene (and remember while watching that Chaplin actually taught himself to walk a tightrope for the film -- there are no stuntmen involved) which becomes all the more entertaining through the addition of some uncooperative monkeys. The impromptu results are funnier than anyone could have scripted.

While the film stays free of social commentary, there is one telling bit of artistic elbow-nudging at one point in the film, when the Tramp, who has been hired as a clown, is lectured by the crabby Ringmaster on How To Be Funny. When the Tramp participates in the hackneyed skits himself, things go wrong from the start, making the skits funnier than imagined, but remarkably UNfunny to the know-it-all Ringmaster. The message is a subtle, but clear one on Chaplin's part -- don't tell ME what's funny; let me show YOU what's funny.

While MODERN TIMES and CITY LIGHTS are the more effective films in terms of storytelling and blending humor and pathos, THE CIRCUS stands as Chaplin's funniest film in terms of successfully executed gags, jaw dropping visuals (including a remarkably advanced dream sequence), and some fall-over-laughing moments. This is the film I show to my friends who have never seen a Chaplin film (apart from some highlighted moments from MODERN TIMES or CITY LIGHTS) to give them an idea of Chaplin's talent. While it has sometimes (though rarely) failed to elicit a "Wow!", it has never failed to generate a room full of laughter -- the true testimony to Chaplin's art.

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. The special two-disc edition does this film justice.

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.

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.

While perhaps not up to quite the same fine level as, say, 'City Lights' or 'Monsieur Verdoux,' this film is a small minor masterpiece in its own right, and frequently cited as Chaplin's most underrated film. Viewing the film, it's hard to believe that the filming experience was such a nightmare, what with things like fires, heavy rains, theft, and Chaplin's messy divorce from his second wife. Generally speaking, Chaplin's features seem to have a bit more drama than endless gags (not that that makes them any less powerful or classic), with the focus being on the narrative storyline and not just a series of funny incidents, but this film rather plays like one of his earlier short subjects, where the laughs were far more frequent. The storyline is simple enough: The Tramp, on the run from the police yet again, even though he didn't really do anything that terribly wrong, eventually stumbles into a circus that's come to town. He makes friends with the horribly mistreated daughter of the circus owner, and falls in love with her, but like in just about all of his films, this love too is unrequited. The pretty bareback rider really loves Rex, the new tightrope walker. While in the circus, Charlie has all sorts of comic misadventures, most famously in the scene where the monkeys are climbing all over him while he's on the tightrope after he's accidentally lost the hidden wire that was keeping him balanced. After this latest mishap, it seems as though his future in the circus is over, though with the scheme he then hatches, things might not be so lost after all.

The extras on the bonus disc are plentiful--movie trailers, a poster and picture gallery, a delightful excerpt from the cute 1923 Jackie Coogan film 'Circus Days,' three brief home movies, a whole extra sequence (26 minutes in length) that was deleted from the final cut of the film, the usual introduction by David Robinson, the trailer for all of the films in the Chaplin Collection, and the featurette on the significance and influence of the film today, footage of the Hollywood premiere in January 1928, a brief film shot by Chaplin's chief cameraman Rollie Totheroh, of 3-D test footage, and simulatenous footage from two different cameras during a scene from the deleted sequence. Unfortunately, none of these bonus films have any soundtracks, not even just some generic piano or organ accompaniment. With all of the care that went into assembling the DVDs in the Chaplin Collection, one would think that the producers would have cared enough to have found soundtracks for all of these bonus short films on the discs.

Quite possibly his most underrated silent feature, if not his most underrated feature period, this film is just as wonderful as all of his other features and, due to how it often plays like one of his shorts from the Teens instead of his more serious features, it could very well be an ideal introduction to Chaplin for a new fan.

Both "The Gold Rush" and "City Lights" are accepted as ciname classics, classic comedy films made by Chalrie Chaplin. In between is a much less known work, "The Circus".

"The Circus" is less well known because the film was not available from shortly after completing it's first release in 1928 until the early 70's, when it was finally re-released. It's re-release brought it to a new audience, who had some knowledge of the film, but not enough to truly value it.

The plot is rather simple - Chaplin's Tramp character stumbles into a failing circus, and is chased by police into the big top, where his chase is the funniest thing to have happened during the whole show. The Tramp is hired at the circus, who's cruel director doesn't let him know how popular he is. The director is generally cruel, abusing his daughter, yelling at everyone, and being generally mean. The girl is in love with a tightrope artist, the Tramp falls in love with the girl, and the film ends with the gril married to the tightrope artist and the Tramp staying behind.

The plot is fleshed out by some of the funniest screen moments that Chaplin would ever come up with. He tries to be a tightrope walker. He gets caught in a funhouse with a crook who is trying to steal from him and a police officer who thinks that he is the real crook. He breaks up a magicians act in the middle of the big top. He gets stuck in a cage with a lion.

Okay, I'm not doing ANY justice to this great film. My review is not funny - the film is.

The film was meticulously restored by David Shepherd, and was released in 1999 on DVD. This DVD is now out of print, and a new on will be issued next year, though likely without the corrections and restorations by Shepherd. This is a shame, since the 1999 DVD includes outtakes and a properly restored opening. The quality is superb, and there are few hints as to the film's age.

I highly recommend this disc!

I don't pretend to be an expert on Chaplin's history, but I do own the Chaplin Collection (both sets) and I have also seen other Chaplin shorts.

I read other reviews stating that this movie was mediocre...I strongly disagree.

This movie is just as funny as the other films. The main difference is that the story is not as complex as most of his other films.

Everyone talks about how wonderful the ending to City Lights was. I loved City Lights (especially the boxing scene) but I find the ending of The Circus a heck of a lot more moving than that of City Lights. As is the case with just about every other Chaplin film, the social commentary is evident, but the message at the end of The Circus will really hits home.

Again, I highly recommend this movie for a good laugh, which does NOT get boring toward the middle, and a very emotional ending.

For my 'non-Chaplin' friends, I usually show this first (as another reviewer has said) and they soon become converts.
As far as I remember (and it's been at least five years since I've ready any Chaplin bios) this film was made during one of Chaplin's hardest personal periods. I believe he was in the midst of a divorce by his third wife, Lita Grey, in which their dirty laundry was dragged into public...a prolonged, grey period ensued, which turned poor Charles' hair more white than ever.
To top it off, I remember reading that this set burned down, not once, but twice, during the filming...then it's no wonder that Chaplin, perfectionist that he was, would decry this as his 'poorest' film.
I couldn't agree less.
The physical gags abound, with the little Tramp making his way to 'stardom' via pure accident...he enlivens a circus show with his cheekiness, accidentally stumbling and bobbing his way onto the boring 'clown show'...he subsequently joins the circus, taking a fancy to a poor overworked girl who is starved by her father, the circus-master, and doing everything he can to show that he loves her...
the tight-rope scenes are gut-splitting, from the beginning when he tries to convince her that he is *really* ok to do it, resulting in much hypermachinations when his rigged bodysuit touches an electrical livewire, to his real tribulations when he is up in the air, 'befriended' by some savage monkeys who like to bite his nose and tear his pants down...some of the most supremely comic moments on film are captured here...words don't do them justice...more than any other Chaplin film (and I've seen all the major ones), this one has real heart and poignance to match 'City Lights'...the ending, with Chaplin giving up the girl, has no match. The little Tramp sits, sun coming up on a glorious LA morning, and watches as the caravan rolls on without him...in the dusky, pale shadows of dawn...then, in little Tramp fashion, he gets up and wanders toward that dusky sunrise...it's a truly sad, yet uplifting, moment...on an additional note, Chaplin did the score himself (in perfectionist manner) and it fits the movie beautifully...no score of a silent (if one actually exists) does more justice to the mood of a film...
a GREAT movie...no one does it better!

This review is for the MK2/Warner release, "The Circus (Two Disc Special Edition)"

Trying to watch this DVD was very frustrating and ultimately disappointing. I spent the entire viewing time trying to find some way to adjust the screen. The image has way, way, way too much contrast, and the details are often completely lost in the dark areas. The night scene toward the end of the movie was particularly difficult to watch, as the characters' face and hands were sometimes the only parts visible. The picture is also very soft focus or out of focus, especially disturbing for viewing faces. When a character turns his head, there is digital smearing upon the movement. It is also cropped a little too close on the top and bottom of the frame. We are lucky that the contract between the Chaplin family and MK2 has expired. I suggest waiting to buy this until a better print shows up. Certainly you should not pay any premium price for this; it really is not worth it.

This is a review for the WB release of Charlie Chaplin's THE CIRCUS,
a heretofore 1928 relative obscurity that only within the last
few years has reached prominance.

This release of THE CIRCUS is a double DVD set with the first disc
for the feature film and the second disc containing many interesting extras.
However, there is no running commentary to accompany THE CIRCUS itself,
which I think might have been an oversight on the part of the releasing
company. A knowledgable commentary track might've been helpful for
viewers who are not familiar with circuses, or silent movies, or Chaplin
himself.

The story involves the little tramp happening upon a domestic situation
in a circus camp. A father, the circus operator, is maltreating his youngish
adult daughter and immediately the tramp takes up her cause. Eventually he worms
his way into a handyman type of job where each day, unbeknownst to the tramp, his
very public comical ineptness becomes more and more popular with the circus crowds.

The operator, no bumpkin he, works very hard to keep the little tramp unaware
that his public comic attempts at doing any kind of job eventually is what
keeps the circus in business. Eventually, the tramp feels forced to learn how
to walk a tightrope in order to keep up with what he percieves to be his
romantic rival, a competitor for the daughter's hand.

If you've read this far you can imagine the monkey business that ensues
to keep the audience, both the circus's and the film's audience, amused
and I would say that Charlie Chaplin succeeded bigtime. This is not
a spectacular production to rival something like THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
but THE CIRCUS achieves its goals in a very pleasing and sentimental
fashion that has to be one of the many highlights of the little tramp's
great career.

I rate this overall package five stars without hesitation and the film of
THE CIRCUS itself more than that if I could.

Charlie Chaplin and Danny Kaye are in my opinion the funniest comedians that I have have heard or seen. The Circus is up to Chaplin's standard.

i think this was the last time chaplin just decided to be funny, rather than also being relevant. and let us be thankful for that! charlot in the lions cage, charlot on a tight rope, charlot just reaching for a chair: who was funnier? while it is not one of the more viewed of his features, it is certainly among his most enjoyable.