The Circus (1928)

First of all, Chaplin was one of the greats. A great visionary of cinema and a genius on and off the camera. Comic timing, sensitive to life, understanding of the common man, Chaplin understood it all. The Circus, in Chaplin's genius and timing, is Chaplin's funniest film that he made. It's not his best, but it's his funniest, in my opinion. From beginning to end you will be laughing so hard you will cry. You will laugh so hard your belly will hurt. Chaplin brings all of his genius and tricks to this one and formulates his best comedy. Must see for all of Chaplin's genius and laughs.

Generating laughs after inadvertently interrupting a big top routine, a tramp is offered a job by a circus in this Charlie Chaplin silent comedy. The film is mostly a series of circus-themed skits thrown together, but there are several interesting ideas at hand as the manager avoids telling him he is their biggest attraction (to avoid paying a handsome salary) and as the tramp is only ever able to make the circus audiences laugh when he is not trying to be funny at all. There is also a touching subplot in which he tries to help an abused circus worker and the film creates an authentic relationship between the pair that never once feels sentimental. If there is one thing to hold against the film though, it is the fact that the first fifteen minutes (before Chaplin is invited to join the circus) is far funnier than anything else afterwards with the subsequent movie never quite recapturing the hilarity of Chaplin running amok in a house of mirrors, running in synchrony with a thief and repeatedly whacking the thief on the head when pretending to be mechanical. Still, this is an amusing movie from start to finish, and one with something surprisingly intelligent to say about how the best humour is spontaneous rather than rehearsed.

I am still of the time when parents would trot out Chaplin short reels and project them on a wall for kids to see the Tramp overcome the vagaries of life, and the mortal coil of poverty. In Mozambique, then a Portuguese colony, in 1972, there was a retrospective of Chaplin's work, and I chose to watch two movies, my favorite Chaplins ever since: THE CIRCUS and MODERN TIMES.THE CIRCUS obviates Chaplin's incredibly athletic abilities, and his ballet-like sense of the comic. The scene where he mimics a clockwork figure that keeps hitting one of Chaplin's pursuers and laughing as part of the mimicry, all to fool a watching policeman, is one of the most brilliant comedy pieces ever, and I shall always feel humbled by the genius that pervades that sequence. The Tramp is the ultimate survivor and he picks up his paycheck by tending to animals and engaging in circus acts, all rather mechanically, until he meets the female lead played by Merna Kennedy, and suddenly he finds a meaning to things, and develops the type of generosity toward a fellow human being that love alone can generate.In between, there are many wonderful moments to enjoy, as Chaplin's acting and directorial skills have seldom been more inspired. Unfortunately, the film ends all too soon but - its ending is one of the most truthful I have ever seen - and Chaplin's reaction perhaps the greatest closing shot ever.At the time of writing this review, THE CIRCUS is about to turn 90 years old, but its themes, views, and comic touches remain fresh, thought-provoking, and a pleasure to return to. Congratulations, the great Master!

Charlie Chapman is one of America's greatest American directors. He made silent films and sound films, and directed one of the greatest silent comedies of all time, " The Circus." Normally I would think silent films are hard to follow or you have to really pay attention to follow what is going on because there is no sound. But that was not the case with The Circus. Every scene makes you want to burst out laughing, just by watching his actions, since you can not hear what the characters are saying. They certainly don't make sound comedies today that are as funny as The Circus was. The significance of " The Circus" is that Charlie Chapman decided to do make The Circus a silent film, although sound films had just come out a year before.