Stars: Charlie Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, Allan Garcia, Harry Crocker, George Davis

Director: Charlie Chaplin

Summary: Classic comedy.

This lavish production features Chaplin directing and also doing his Little Tramp bit. This time, the hapless vagabond seeks refuge from the law among the members of a travelling circus. He soon falls in love with the beautiful equestrienne and the film audience is treated not only to a big top spectacular, but a charming romance as well.

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Made in 1928 while he was in the middle of a painful divorce case, Charlie Chaplin's The Circuswas 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 films such as The Gold Rush(1925) and City Lights(1931). However, while it's not quite in their league, The Circusundoubtedly 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 rivalled by a new addition to the circus, a handsome tightrope walker. To try to win back her affections the Tramp 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 Circusis 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.

On the DVD: The Circusfeatures a generous trove of extras on this two-disc set, including extracts from Lord Mountbatten's home movies of Chaplin, a deleted scene involving a prankster prize-fighter, as well as original footage showing how the perfectionist Chaplin would shoot and reshoot scenes. An introduction from David Robinson explains the adverse circumstances which held up the shooting of The Circus, including a fire and gales, which destroyed the set, while a further documentary delves into Chaplin's earliest work to provide context for the film. On the first disc, the film itself is an excellent transfer. --David Stubbs

Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Introduction to THE CIRCUS, Trailers, Documentary - 1. CHAPLIN TODAY: THE CIRCUS, Deleted Scene, Outtakes, Featurettes - 1. Home Movies, 2. The Hollywood Premiere, 3. Alternate Camera Angles, 4. 3D Test Footage, 5. Circus Days, Stills Gallery, Poster Gallery
Year:	1928
Release Date:	September 22, 2003
Runtime:	72 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 037644
Keywords:	Chaplin, Charlie, Comedy, Circus, General
Genre:	Comedy