The Circus 1928
A little tramp (Charlie Chaplin) accidentally falls in with a down-on-its-luck circus and his acrobatic and comedic skills start drawing audiences to the big-top in droves, but not without a bittersweet brush with romance for the gentle clown.
Starring: Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy
Runtime: 1 hour, 12 minutes
Year : 1928
Cast : Merna Kennedy, Al Ernest Garcia, Henry Bergman, Harry Crocker
Production : united artist
Description : The Little Tramp is hired by a circus and soon becomes the main attraction when his comedic blunders drive the crowd wild. Having fallen in love with the ringmaster’s daughter, he doesn’t even realize he’s the show’s main feature. In this high-flying comedy, we are quickly caught up in Chaplin’s whirlwind of gags, where even the acrobats and clowns watch his show-stopping stunts from the sidelines.
Product Details
Genres Romance, Comedy
Director Charles Chaplin
Starring Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy
Supporting actors Harry Crocker, George Davis, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford, John Rand, Steve Murphy, Charles Chaplin, Albert Austin, Chester A. Bachman, Eugene Barry, Jack Bernard, Stanley Blystone, Heinie Conklin, Bill Knight, Toraichi Kono, H.L. Kyle, Betty Morrissey, L.J. O’Connor
Studio The Criterion Collection
MPAA rating NR (Not Rated)
Purchase rights Stream instantly Details
Format Amazon Video (streaming online video)
One Of Chaplin’s Best; Certainly Underrated
By Craig Connell on April 27, 2006
Format: DVD
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.