X
- 1929
- G
- United Artists
- 1 h 12 m
- 1929
- G
- United Artists
- 1 h 12 m
Directed By: Charles Chaplin
Written By: Charles Chaplin
- 1929
- G
- United Artists
- 1 h 12 m
- 1929
- G
- United Artists
- 1 h 12 m
The Circus
90
7.6
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Directed By: Charles Chaplin
Written By: Charles Chaplin
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 7 Critic Reviews
90
100% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 7 Critic Reviews
90
100% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Charlie Chaplin was a perfectionist in his films and a calamity in his private life. These two traits clashed as he was making The Circus, one of his funniest films and certainly the most troubled.
There’s an edge to The Circus that suggests a man gazing deep into the void, laughing at the darkness and urging us to do the same.
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 40 User Ratings
7.6
83% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
8% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
10% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 40 User Ratings
7.6
83% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
8% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
10% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
Sep 23, 2024
A rather tight, simple premise that blossoms under the influence of Charlie Chaplin's expert touch, like a majority of his timeless classics. This go-around, he happens upon a traveling circus, inadvertently stumbles his way into becoming a star attraction, falls for the **** girl and finds trouble with her ringmaster father. Sprinkled along the way are frequent doses of brilliant physical comedy, inventive and original as ever, which playfully toy with the trappings of daily life around the carnival grounds. Chaplin suffered several personal hardships during filming - a messy public divorce, a ruinous studio fire, the death of a parent - and tucked in amidst all the hijinx and gags I found a tinge of quiet sadness and reflection. Particularly late in the picture, when the plucky Tramp falls into the friend zone and struggles with jealousy over his girl's new fling, he emits an open air of desperation, then acceptance, that organically develops into a sweet, unexpected climax. It's easy to get the sense that he worked through quite a bit with this picture, both behind the camera and before it, which elevates the product from a very good silent comedy into something more significant, something lasting. The parting shot, in which the show rides noisily off to the next town while Chaplin is left in the dust, serves as a potent metaphor for his fears over the steamrolling arrival of sound cinema (The Jazz Singer opened a mere three months before The Circus) and adds yet another layer to the complex emotional undercurrent. A phenomenal, and oft-overlooked, bit of understated work from one of Hollywood's brightest stars.
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It is Chaplin’s great elegy to the lost art of music-hall pantomime and, for that matter, the soon-to-be lost art of silent-film comedy.
By Christian Blauvelt FULL REVIEW
Mixing sweetness, darkness, violence and delirious gags, this 1928 must-see showcases film's greatest comic.
Mostly the movie registers as a comedy flag being planted, a claim being made. Anything your average clown could do, Chaplin could do better.
In clinging to a tale of logical sequence, without the expected interpolations or detached incidents, Chaplin's Circus for speed, gags and laughs has not been equalled on the sheet. But it's very broad, for Chaplin makes no attempt at subtlety in this one.
By Staff (Not Credited) FULL REVIEW
There are passages in The Circus that are undoubtedly too long and others that are too extravagant for even this blend of humor. But Chaplin's unfailing imagination helps even when the sequence is obviously slipping from grace.
By Mordaunt Hall FULL REVIEW
Aug 25, 2019
A classic love track, sound track, gag reel and simply smart filmmaking. The Circus I think I can go ahead and say that this is my favourite Chaplin feature. I wish I knew why and I don't either. The writer, director, actor and composer Charlie Chaplin has struck gold in this adventure. The germ of the idea was definitely the change in location and spreading still the same humor, humility and belief. And yet, it remains unfiltered for its sweetness. No matter how accurate and magnanimous your vision is on pulling off a dark gritty drama, it would rarely add to the "I wish.." list for its "beware" and "wit" tingling sensation in you. While this sweet love story like this has legs that goes for decades and even centuries for it catches you with big fluffy pillows as you fall down with gullible likeness in mind. A bread and an egg, the story starts from and it is where it ends. And yes, I get that some might even find this heartbreaking, but Chaplin's genius in the last act of the film, was that he satisfies you with such absorbing themes, that by the end you don't really care how The Circus will finish the show. The product is gift wrapped and delivered to your doors as soon as the last act begins. The key is to never go beyond anyone's perspective other than Chaplin's. And this was all drama. The rest of the fill in, are fabulous gags that looks like Chaplin has installed to test himself as an actor, a performer. From enacting like a robotic puppet to multiplying himself on screen to bossing around his opposing co-star like a mentor. Over the years, the only issue I had was with the do over process of the interview of his job, until I realized this time that those mandatory gags were not actually for the laughs, but a showcase of his commitment on the hard work that he inadvertently cares for.
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Aug 21, 2025
This movie is honestly cute, wholesome, and charming. Charlie Chaplin is excellent with his body language and mannerisms. I feel like this movie could have been an 8/10, but the end of the story kind of ruined it for me personally. The humor is pretty constant throughout, which is still pretty amazing even to this day.
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Nov 17, 2024
Me quedé como con una sensación rara porque, para nada puedo decir que es una mala película pero de las que he visto hasta ahora, es la película más flojita de Chaplin. Es divertida, me reí bastantes veces, pero no me provocó otras emociones como sí sucedió con otras obras, lo cual es raro. Tal vez estoy mal acostumbrado de que solo haga genialidades, pero cuando alguien es tan bueno, siempre se espera lo mejor. Lo que puedo destacar en general es cuando a Chaplin tiene que caminar por la cuerda floja, es totalmente divertido y bastante interesante como logra hacer el acto. También el final es diferente esta vez no se queda con la chica y entiende que estará mejor con el otro hombre, eso no me lo esperaba y es refrescante que lo haya hecho. Buena película.
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Jul 31, 2025
Примитивная история и гэги с раздутым хронометражом, а так же почётный Оскар за вот этот стыд. Очередной непонятный залёт немого кино в топ-500.
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Production Company
- Charles Chaplin Productions
Release Date Jan 1, 1929
Duration 1 h 12 m
Rating G
Tagline Charlie Chaplin in the Greatest Picture of His Entire Career...
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Photoplay Awards
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
