Review of The Circus (1928) by Sean F — 29 Aug 2004

Ah, the circus! It made sense that in 1928 the world's most famous clown would go to the circus. If an artist's creative control is a rarity now, it was unheard of under the studio system. Charlie Chaplin, one of the four United Artists, had control over every aspect of his films, sometimes taking months to over a year to get something perfect.

So when he had a circus big top built on his studio lot with no idea of what he wanted to do with it, nobody batted an eye. What came out of it was "The Circus", his first film since 1925's "The Gold Rush".

Chaplin once again gives us his Little Tramp. This time he's jobless, hungry, and just been wrongly accused of pickpocketing. While running from the authorities he stumbles into the big top, and his antics make him an immediate hit.

The circus hadn't been doing well, so he's offered a job. The joke is, he's not funny when he's trying to be. He has to be completely unaware of the chaos he's creating. What Chaplin is actually doing here is responding to the changing state of entertainment.

By 1928, Chaplin was already a film veteran, and before that he starred in music halls. While "The Circus" was in production "The Jazz Singer", the first sound movie, was released.

Chaplin saw, and had already seen, comedy tides turning. The routines that he did that weren't funny were routines that killed just ten years before. For that matter, the circus itself seemed to be stuck in cornball vaudevillian routines until the Tramp showed up.

Fortunately, as they say, Chaplin's comedy is timeless. Anybody can get a pie in the face, but when you look at Chaplin on a tight rope and covered with monkeys, you can't help but think, "How does he do that?".