The Circus [Criterion Collection]

Director: Charlie Chaplin

Overview

Less maudlin than many of Chaplin's longer films, this one won him a special Academy Award for "versatility and genius in writing, acting, directing and producing," due in part to the outlandish final scenes. In this silent film, the Little Tramp is a member of a traveling circus and falls in love with a beautiful bareback rider.

Customer Reviews

Product Details

Release Date:	09/24/2019
UPC:	0715515235112
Original Release:	1928
Rating:	G
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:12:00
Sales rank:	22,282

Special Features

New 4k digital restoration of Charlie Chaplin's rerelease version of the film, featuring an original score by Chaplin; New Audio Commentary featuring Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance; Interview with Chaplin from 1969; New interview with Chaplin's son Eugene Chaplin; In the Service of the Story, a new program on the film's visual effects and production design by film scholar Craig Barron; Chaplin Today: "The Circus," a 2003 documentary on the film featuring filmmaker Emir Kusturica; Excerpted audio interview from 1998 with Chaplin musical associate Eric James; Unused cafe sequence with new score by Composer Timothy Brock, and related outtakes with narration by comedy Choreographer Dan Kamin; New discovered outtakes featuring the Tramp and the circus rider; Excerpts from the original recording session for the film's opening song, "Swing Little Girl"; Footage of the film's 1928 Holllywood premiere; Rerelease trailers; Plus: An essay by critic Pamea Hutchinson

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Merna Kennedy	Merna
Harry Crocker	Rex
Allan Garcia	Circus Owner,Actor
George Davis	Magik
Stanley Sanford	Actor
Betty Morrissey	Znikaj?ca kobieta
John Rand	Assistant Property Man
Henry Bergman	The Old Clown
Steve Murphy	The Pickpocket
Armand Triller	Actor
Bill Knight	Actor
Jack P. Pierce	Actor
Charlie Chaplin	W??cz?ga,Composer
Tiny Sandford	Actor,The Head Property Man

Technical Credits

Charles Chaplin

Charles Chaplin

Producer,Screenwriter

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The Circus
255. Chapters
1. Empty House [4:52]
2. Stolen Wallet [3:07]
3. Sideshows [3:26]
4. "Bring On The Funny Man!" [5:36]
5. Breakfast For Two [3:51]
6. "The Tryout" [7:41]
7. Returning The Favor [2:32]
8. Property Man [3:59]
9. "Keep Him Busy" [3:11]
10. Dangerous Lion [3:30]
11. "The Hit Of The Show" [2:50]
12. Fortune-Teller [2:02]
13. Rex [6:28]
14. Last-Minute Replacement [6:56]
15. New King Of The Air [6:01]
16. A Tramp And A Runaway [2:41]
17. "The Next Morning" [3:48]
1. Color Bars

Menu

Disc #1 -- The Circus
Play The Movie
Commentary
Commentary: On/Off
Commentary: On
Commentary: Off
Supplements
Eugene Chaplin
Play
In The Service Of The Story
Play
Chaplin Today: "The Circus"
Play
Stepping Out
Edited Sequence
Outtakes
Eric James
Play
"Sweet Little Girl"
Play
Hollywood Premiere
Play
Charlie Chaplin In 1969
Play
Rerelease Trailers

Editorial Reviews

Charlie Chaplin puts the Little Tramp into the circus, and the result is his most underappreciated feature. Like many of Chaplin's films, The Circus blends the hilarious with the sentimental, and at the core is Charlie's destiny to watch from the sidelines as his love falls for someone else. The very naïveté and sentimentality of Charlie's scenes with Merna Kennedy are what make them so strangely affecting and sincere. But it is the comedy that makes this film priceless. Among the best sequences are: Charlie's pursuit by the police, which takes him through the house of mirrors and includes the famous gag of Charlie turning himself into a sort of robotic figurine to elude the police; Charlie's failure to successfully audition for the circus, because it involves being intentionally funny; Charlie's disastrous introduction as a prop man; Charlie getting stuck in the lion's cage; and, of course, the flawless climax in which Charlie attempts to perform Rex's high wire act. Throughout, there are smaller, more subtle, moments that flesh out the characters and give the film its heart, and as always with Chaplin, there is the essential aspect of Charlie's personality: the Little Tramp who tries to maintain his dignity in the face of ridicule and defeat. Chaplin's pitch-perfect comic timing and his ability to convey the Tramp's personality through the subtlest of gestures and expressions are what make his creation so endurable. In fact, he is so smooth that he makes it easy to take for granted the amount of work involved in making the film seem so effortless, but the very fact that the shooting for the picture spanned an amazing two years underscores just how much sweat and experimentation went into Chaplin's work. The Circus will probably always exist in the shadow of Chaplin's better-known efforts, but it deserves to be fully appreciated on its own terms.