#253: the Circus
Release Date: January 6th, 1928
Format: Streaming (HBO)
Written by: Charlie Chaplin
Directed by: Charlie Chaplin
4 Stars
Of the consensus Chaplin masterpieces - The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator - I suppose The Circus is the least talked about.
Watching it tonight for the first time in a few years, I suppose I can see why. The Circus doesn’t hit the emotional heights of the most poignant moments from The Kid, The Gold Rush, or City Lights. It also doesn’t have a scene as iconic as the assembly line scene in Modern Times, or the final speech in The Great Dictator.
What it does have, though, are great comic set pieces and some of Chaplin’s best physical comedy in any of his feature films. It’s a really, really funny movie.
The story involves the Little Tramp getting a job in a traveling circus and falling in love with a female trapeze artist, who also happens to be the daughter of the evil ringmaster. One day the Little Tramp accidentally interrupts the show while getting chased by one of the circus donkeys, which gets a spontaneous roar of laughter from the audience, much louder than the ringmaster’s motley crew of mediocre clowns.
The ringmaster then has a clever idea. Seeing that this Little Tramp seems to be very funny without hardly trying, maybe he can trick him into being the star of the show without him knowing that he’s the star of the show? If he doesn’t know that he’s the star, then the ringmaster doesn’t have to pay him like a star. How will he trick him? Why, the little man is so inept, just give him about any task during the show and he’s sure to mess it up and get a big laugh.
It’s a genius plan, but after a while both the Little Tramp and the lovely trapeze artist grow increasingly disillusioned by their exploitation at the hands of the ringmaster. Will they run away and live together happily ever after?
I must say, the resolution to The Circus is quite beautiful. Sure, maybe the pathos of the final shot might not send you soaring like the final shot of City Lights, but that doesn’t mean The Circus isn’t full of its own unique wonder.
