{"id":24357,"date":"2012-02-29T12:06:13","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T19:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24357"},"modified":"2020-12-27T13:24:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T20:24:47","slug":"circus-the-1928","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24357","title":{"rendered":"Circus, The (1928)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Keep him busy and don&#8217;t let him know he&#8217;s the hit of the show.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Poster-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-24365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Poster-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Poster-95x128.jpg 95w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Poster.jpg 475w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA tramp (Charlie Chaplin) accidentally becomes the hit star in a circus run by a cruel ringmaster (Al Garcia), who pays him the lower wages of a prop-master; meanwhile, he falls in love with Garcia&#8217;s abused daughter (Merna Kennedy) &#8212; but does she feel the same way about him?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Carnivals and Circuses<\/li>\n<li>Charlie Chaplin Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Silent Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that if this &#8220;sweet, deceptively simple, flawless film&#8230; doesn&#8217;t quite equal other Chaplin masterpieces on first viewing, that&#8217;s because it seems that Chaplin didn&#8217;t invest it with quite as much emotion&#8221; &#8212; which is exactly why I find it to be such an underrated gem. Unlike the overly maudlin tenor of many of Chaplin&#8217;s other, better-known films, <em>The Circus<\/em> possesses almost purely comedic energy, with just enough romantic tension and longing to move the narrative along. As Peary notes, &#8220;there are [many] wonderful scenes: hungry Chaplin eating a hot dog that a little boy (whose father looks the other way) holds in his hand; Chaplin eluding a pickpocket and a cop in a hall of mirrors; &#8230; Chaplin finding himself locked in a cage with a sleeping lion inside and a barking dog outside; Chaplin attempting a tightrope act and having a wild monkey latch its teeth onto his nose&#8221;. Other laugh-out-loud scenes include Chaplin posing as part of a mechanized display outside a fun house, and Chaplin&#8217;s hilariously failed attempts to officially audition for a role in the circus. It all represents Chaplin&#8217;s &#8220;usual number of brilliant sight gags and moments of slapstick&#8221;, and is simply great fun throughout. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> In his <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em> book, Peary names Chaplin Best Actor of the Year for this film, pointing out that &#8220;as usual, Chaplin&#8217;s tramp is both touching and funny as he maintains his dignity&#8221;, and &#8212; thankfully &#8211; &#8220;doesn&#8217;t play for pity&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Many memorable, expertly crafted scenes<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Baby.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Baby.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Baby.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Baby-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Baby-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Maze-of-Mirrors.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Maze-of-Mirrors.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24363\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Maze-of-Mirrors.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Maze-of-Mirrors-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Maze-of-Mirrors-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Machine.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Machine.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24362\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Machine.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Machine-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Machine-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-William-Tell.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-William-Tell.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24358\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-William-Tell.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-William-Tell-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-William-Tell-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Lion.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Lion.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24361\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Lion.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Lion-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Lion-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Monkeys.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Monkeys.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-24364\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Monkeys.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Monkeys-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Circus-Monkeys-300x225.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an early comedy classic by Chaplin.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0018773\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=9E03EFD71738E23ABC4153DFB7668383639EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/silent-volume.blogspot.com\/2009\/02\/circus-1928.html\">Silent Volume Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/silent-volume.blogspot.com\/2009\/02\/circus-1928.html\">Silent Volume Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=6003&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/324721\/the-circus#articles-reviews?articleId=33790\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.combustiblecelluloid.com\/classic\/circus.shtml\">Combustible Celluloid Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Keep him busy and don&#8217;t let him know he&#8217;s the hit of the show.&#8221; Synopsis: A tramp (Charlie Chaplin) accidentally becomes the hit star in a circus run by a cruel ringmaster (Al Garcia), who pays him the lower wages of a prop-master; meanwhile, he falls in love with Garcia&#8217;s abused daughter (Merna Kennedy) &#8212; but does she feel the same way about him? Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Carnivals and Circuses Charlie Chaplin Films Comedy Silent Films Response to&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24357\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24357"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59981,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24357\/revisions\/59981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}