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Circus, the
 
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Circus, the

Charles Chaplin (Actor), Merna Kennedy (Actor), Charles Chaplin (Director) | Rated: Unrated | Format: DVD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Made in 1928 while he was in the middle of a painful divorce case, Charlie Chaplin's The Circus was so associated with bad memories for its maker that he refused even to mention it in his 1964 autobiography. Consequently, it has enjoyed less of a reputation than such films as The Gold Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931). However, while it's not quite in their league, The Circus undoubtedly deserves to be rescued from relative obscurity.

Here, Chaplin's Tramp is taken on as a clown at the circus, having been chased into the big tent by a policeman wrongly suspected of theft and wowing the audience with his pratfalls. He falls in love with the ill-treated ringmaster's daughter (Merna Kennedy) but is swiftly rivaled by a new addition to the circus, a handsome tightrope walker. To try to win back her affections, the Tramp himself attempts the same act, culminating in the best sequence of the film, when he is assailed by monkeys as he totters amateurishly and precariously along a rope suspended high in the tent. Although The Circus is marred by the rather hackneyed and (even in 1928) stale melodramatic device of the cruel father and imploring daughter, it scores high on its slapstick content, with routines involving a hall of mirrors and a mishap with a magician's equipment demonstrating Chaplin's dazzling ability to choreograph apparently improvised mayhem. --David Stubbs

Chronique amazon.fr

Le Cirque est un retour aux sources pour Chaplin qui a débuté sa carrière sur les planches par des numéros de pantomime. Chaplin incarne une nouvelle fois Charlot, son personnage fétiche de vagabond, avec un plaisir non dissimulé. Pris pour un pickpocket, Charlot trouve refuge dans un cirque, et, pénétrant par erreur sur la piste, déclenche les rires du public. Aussitôt engagé comme clown, il devient bientôt la vedette du cirque. Embarquant le spectateur avec lui dans le tourbillon du cirque, le héros solitaire nous entraîne dans une suite d'aventures, démontrant à tout moment son sens inné du gag et son extrême sensibilité. Fidèle à lui-même, Chaplin nous offre un film poignant où le plus pur burlesque côtoie le tragique. --Christophe Gagnot

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9 Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A Problematic Chaplin, Aug 13 1999
By 
Scott T. Rivers (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Chaplin:Circus/Pleasure (VHS Tape)
"The Circus" is a decidedly strange effort from Charlie Chaplin. His last silent film focuses on the aspect of a clown's success and failure -- a theme that worked to better advantage in Chaplin's "Limelight." There are a few highlights, particularly the classic funhouse chase, yet the overall movie seems forced and a bit too melodramatic. No wonder Chaplin kept "The Circus" out of circulation for more than 40 years -- he knew it was lacking. The same goes for the accompanying two-reeler, "A Day's Pleasure," which is one of the Chaplin's weakest shorts and a significant comedown from his groundbreaking work at Mutual. In retrospect, neither film shows Chaplin at his absolute best.
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5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite of all Chaplin films, Mar 23 2004
By 
Tuyen Thi (California , home of chaplin) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Chaplin:Circus/Pleasure (VHS Tape)
Of all the films I've watched of Charlie Chaplin this has got to be my most favorite comedy of his and definitly needs to be saved from obscurity . It's both a drama and comedy and has lots of pantomime and slapstick . The story goes like this , Charlie goes to the circus and is mistaken for a pickpocket . He tries to escape from the police by entering a mirror maze ( I wonder how Charlie pulled off this camera trick ) and pretends to be one of those mechanical dummies . He then gets chased into the big top where he causes a roar of laughter to the audience that has been bored out by the ringmasters so called entertainment . The ringmaster soon realizes that this tramp character is what he needs for his circus so he gives him a trial and lets Charlie show off his funny`material which to the ringmaster is not funny. The only time the tramp is funny is when he tries not to be so the ring master hires Charlie to be a property with pretty good results . The tramp falls in love with the ringmaster's abused step daughter . Merna( the ringmaster's stepdaughter ) soon finds love with the circus's new attraction Rex the " King of Air " a.k.a. tightrope walker . The movie is very funny and is filled with gags such as Charlie on the tightrope being harrassed by monkeys pulling his pants down , biting his nose , and sticking their tails in his mouth . What's really interesting about this scene is that when you look at the expression on his face it's pretty sad , its charlie struggling through his perosonal life . He can't escape from all this trouble just like he could'nt escape from his divorce with his second wife Lita grey , his money problems , his mother's death and problems with stage fires all during the making of this film . The last scene in the film just wants to make you burst into tears because the tramp finds out that the girl is in love with the tightrope walker so he gets them married because he knows that he could never have a chance with Merna and the circus leaves leaving Charlie behind. Truly one of Chaplin's most hard to make films that should be more mentioned about . The short comedy included in this video sucks though .
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5.0 out of 5 stars A great film, Mar 10 2004
This review is from: Circus, the (DVD)
often overlooked between The Gold Rush and City Lights, which bracketed it in Charlie's catalog. I'd neber seen this one until now, but I think it's probably the strongest of Charlie's straightforward slapstick films. He really didn't try this sort of thing in the later part of his career, so it's cool to get a chance to see him do it with the technical progress that had been made since his early days at keystone.

And Merna Kennedy may very well be the most beautiful woman to ever live. It's a shame she died so young.

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