Editing The Circus (1928 film)

{{Short description|1928 film by Charlie Chaplin}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = The Circus
| image          = The Circus (1928) - Hap Hadley poster.jpg
| caption        = Original US poster by [[Hap Hadley|Alvan "Hap" Hadley]]
| writer         = Charlie Chaplin
| starring       = Charlie Chaplin<br>[[Al Ernest Garcia]]<br>[[Merna Kennedy]]<br>[[Henry Bergman]]
| music          = [[Arthur Kay (musician)|Arthur Kay]]<br><small>'''(1928 version)'''</small><br>Charlie Chaplin<br><small>'''(1967 version)'''</small>
| director       = [[Charlie Chaplin]]
| cinematography = [[Roland Totheroh]]
| producer       = Charlie Chaplin
| distributor    = [[United Artists]]
| released       = {{film date|1928|1|6|New York|1928|1|27|Los Angeles}}
| country        = United States
| runtime        = 70 minutes
| language       = [[Silent film]]<br>English intertitles
| budget         =
| gross          = $3.8 million (worldwide rentals)<ref name=Variety>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety106-1932-06/page/n181/mode/1up|title=Biggest Money Pictures|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=June 21, 1932|page=62|quote=His 'The Circus' did a total of $3,800,000.}}</ref> 
}}
'''''The Circus''''' is a 1928 [[silent film|silent]] [[Romance film|romantic]] [[comedy film]] written, produced, and directed by [[Charlie Chaplin]]. The film stars Chaplin, [[Al Ernest Garcia]], [[Merna Kennedy]], [[Harry Crocker]], [[George Davis (actor)|George Davis]] and [[Henry Bergman]]. The [[Ringmaster (circus)|ringmaster]] of an impoverished circus hires Chaplin's [[The Tramp|Little Tramp]] as a clown, but discovers that he can only be funny unintentionally.

The production of the film was the most difficult experience in Chaplin's career.  Numerous problems and delays occurred, including a studio fire, the death of Chaplin's mother, as well as Chaplin's bitter divorce from his second wife [[Lita Grey]], and the [[Internal Revenue Service]]'s claims of Chaplin's owing back taxes, all of which culminated in filming being stalled for eight months.<ref name="DVDJ">{{cite web|last=Bourne|first=Mark|year=2004|url=http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/c/circus.shtml|title=The Circus: The Chaplin Collection|work=Reviews|publisher=The DVD Journal|access-date=October 29, 2010}}</ref> ''The Circus'' was the seventh-highest grossing silent film in cinema history taking in more than $3.8 million in 1928.<ref name=Variety/> The film continues to receive high praise. The film's copyright was renewed, so it entered the public domain on January 1, 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015084451130&view=page&seq=68&skin=2021&q1=%22THE%20CIRCUS%22 | title=Catalog of copyright entries. Ser.3 pt.12–13 v.9–12 1955–1958 Motion Pictures | work=Catalog of copyright entries.Musical compositions | date=1891 }}</ref>

==Plot==
[[File:The_Circus_(1928)_by_Charlie_Chaplin_(restored_version).webm|thumb|thumbtime=1|''The Circus'' (1928) by Charlie Chaplin |left|230x230px]]
At a circus [[Midway (fair)|midway]], the penniless and hungry Tramp is mistaken for a pickpocket and chased by both the police and the real crook (the latter having stashed a stolen wallet and watch in the Tramp's pocket to avoid detection). Running away, the Tramp stumbles into the middle of a performance and unknowingly becomes the hit of the show.

The ringmaster/proprietor of the struggling circus gives him a tryout the next day, but the Tramp fails miserably. However, when the property men quit because they have not been paid, he gets hired on the spot to take their place. Once again, he inadvertently creates comic mayhem during a show. The ringmaster craftily hires him as a poorly paid property man who is always stationed in the performance area of the big top tent so he can unknowingly improvise comic material.

The Tramp befriends Merna, a horse rider who is treated badly by her ringmaster stepfather. She later informs the Tramp that he is the star of the show, forcing the ringmaster to pay him accordingly. With the circus thriving because of him, the Tramp also is able to secure better treatment for Merna.

After overhearing a [[Fortune telling|fortune teller]] inform Merna that she sees "love and marriage with a dark, handsome man who is near you now", the overjoyed Tramp buys a ring from another clown. Alas for him, she meets Rex, the newly hired [[Tightrope walking|tightrope walker]]. The Tramp eavesdrops as she rushes to tell the fortune teller that she has fallen in love with the new man. With his heart broken, the Tramp is unable to entertain the crowds. After several poor performances, the ringmaster warns him he has only one more chance.

When Rex cannot be found for a performance, the ringmaster (knowing that the Tramp has been practicing the tightrope act in hopes of supplanting his rival) sends the Tramp out in his place. Despite a few mishaps, including several mischievous escaped monkeys, he manages to survive the experience and receives much applause from the audience. However, when he sees the ringmaster slapping Merna around afterward, he beats the man and is fired.

Merna runs away to join him. The Tramp finds and brings Rex back with him to marry Merna. The trio go back to the circus. The ringmaster starts berating his stepdaughter, but stops when Rex informs him that she is his wife. When the traveling circus leaves, the Tramp remains behind. He picks himself up and starts walking jauntily away.

==Cast==
[[File:The Circus (1928), screenshot 28'08''.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|[[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Merna Kennedy]]]]
<!-- These are the role designations as shown in the credits, with the exception of the last, where TRAMP is fully capitalized !-->
* [[Charlie Chaplin]] as [[The Tramp]]
* [[Al Ernest Garcia]] as The Circus Proprietor and Ringmaster [credited as Allan Garcia]
* [[Merna Kennedy]] as The Ringmaster's Step-daughter, a Circus Rider
* [[Harry Crocker]] as Rex, a Tight Rope Walker (also a disgruntled property man and a clown)
* [[George Davis (actor)|George Davis]] as a Magician
* [[Henry Bergman]] as an Old Clown
* [[Tiny Sandford]] as The Head Property Man [credited as Stanley J. Sandford]
* [[John Rand (actor)|John Rand]] as an Assistant Property Man (also a clown)
* [[Steve_Murphy_(actor)|Steve Murphy]] as a Pickpocket

==Production==

===Development===
Chaplin first began discussing his ideas for a film about a circus as early as 1920.<ref>{{cite book|last=Milton|first=Joyce|year=1998|title=Tramp: The Life of Charlie Chaplin|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=0-306-80831-5|page=256}}</ref>  In late 1925, he returned from New York to California and began working on developing the film at [[Charlie Chaplin Studios]].  Set designer Danny Hall [[Storyboard|sketched]] out Chaplin's early ideas for the film, with Chaplin returning to  one of his older films, ''[[The Vagabond (1916 film)|The Vagabond]]'' (1916), and drawing upon similar story ideas and themes for ''The Circus''.<ref name="Ede">{{cite video|people=Ede, François (director); Kusturica, Emir; Chaplin, Charlie|date=2003|title=Chaplin Today: The Circus|medium=DVD|location=France|publisher=Association Chaplin, France 5, MK2TV, Warner Bros.}}</ref><ref name="The Vagabond">{{cite web |title=Charlie Chaplin : The Vagabond |url=https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/22-The-Vagabond |website=www.charliechaplin.com |access-date=November 3, 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Chaplin was a long time admirer of French comedian [[Max Linder]], who had died in October 1925, and often borrowed gags and plot devices from Linder's films. Some critics have pointed out the similarities between ''The Circus'' and Linder's last completed film ''[[The King of the Circus]]''.<ref>Wakeman, John. World Film Directors, Volume 1. The H. W. Wilson Company. 1987. p. 675.</ref>

===Filming===
Filming began on January 11, 1926, and the majority was completed by November.<ref>Lynn 1997, p. 308.</ref><ref name="Mitch58">Mitchell 1997, p. 58.</ref> After the first month of filming, it was discovered that the [[film negative]] had been scratched; restoration work was able to eventually adjust the negative.<ref name="Mitch57">Mitchell 1997, p. 57.</ref> A major fire broke out at Chaplin's studios in September, delaying production for a month.<ref name="Mitch57"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Flom|first=Eric L.|year=1997|title=Chaplin in the Sound Era: An Analysis of the Seven Talkies|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0-7864-0325-X|page=34}}</ref>  Chaplin was served with divorce papers by [[Lita Grey]] in December, and litigation delayed the release of the film for another year.

==Release==
''The Circus'' finally premiered in [[New York City]] on January 6, 1928, at the [[Mark Strand Theatre|Strand Theatre]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Vance|first=Jeffrey|year=2003|title=Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema|publisher=Harry N. Abram|isbn=0-8109-4532-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chaplingeniusofc00vanc/page/182 182–183]|url=https://archive.org/details/chaplingeniusofc00vanc/page/182}}</ref> and in [[Los Angeles]] on January 27 at the [[Grauman's Chinese Theatre]].<ref>Lynn 1997, p. 313.</ref>  It came right at the beginning of the [[sound film]] era,<ref>{{cite book|last=Crafton|first=Donald|year=1999|chapter=The Uncertainty of Sound|title=The Talkies: American Cinema's Transition to Sound, 1926–1931|publisher=University of California Press|volume=4|isbn=0-520-22128-1|page=17}}</ref> with the very first feature sound film, ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' (1927), having been released just months earlier.

Chaplin composed a new score for the film in 1967, and this new version of the film (see below) was copyrighted in 1968 to "The Roy Export Company Establishment" and released in 1969.

==Reception==
[[File:Charlie Chaplin in The Circus, ad from Motion Picture News, January to March 1927 (page 25 crop).jpg|left|thumb|Advertisement from 1927 [[Motion Picture News]]]]
''The Circus'' was well received by audiences and critics, and while its performance at the box office was good, it earned less than ''[[The Gold Rush]]'' (1925).<ref name="Maland">{{cite book|last=Maland|first=Charles J.|year=1991|title=Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-02860-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/chaplinamericanc0000mala}}</ref>  In North America, the film earned $1,820,000 in domestic theatrical rentals.<ref name=ChaplinBook>{{cite book|first=Charles J.|last=Maland|title= Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image|date=1989|publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-09440-3|quote=The United Artists balance sheet of domestic film rentals through the end of 1931 show that ''The Gold Rush'' had accumulated $2.15 million in rentals, while ''The Circus'' had garnered $1.82 million.}}</ref> Some critics consider it and ''The Gold Rush'' to be Chaplin's two best comedies.<ref>{{cite book|year=2004|chapter=Charles Spencer Chaplin|title=Encyclopedia of World Biography|publisher=Gale|edition=2nd|volume=3|pages=438–440}}</ref>

In ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[Mordaunt Hall]] reported that it was "likely to please intensely those who found something slightly wanting in ''The Gold Rush'', but at the same time it will prove a little disappointing to those who reveled in the poetry, the pathos and fine humor of his previous adventure." Hall went on to write that there were passages "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."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hall |first=Mordaunt |date=January 9, 1928 |title=Movie Review |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E03EFD71738E23ABC4153DFB7668383639EDE |journal=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York |access-date=November 16, 2014 }}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' ran a very positive review, stating that "For the picture patrons, all of them, and for broad, laughable fun – Chaplin's best. It's Charlie Chaplin's best fun maker for other reasons: because it is the best straightaway story he has employed for broad film making, and because here his fun stuff is nearly all entirely creative or original in the major point."<ref>{{cite journal |date=January 11, 1928 |title=The Circus |journal=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |location=New York |publisher=Variety, Inc. |page=16 }}</ref>

Commenting on the long wait for the film's release, ''[[Film Daily]]'' wrote that "it was worth it, for, if you are prone to favor superlatives here is an opportunity to coin several fresh ones" and that Chaplin was "as inimitable today as he was in the days of his two-reelers."<ref>{{cite journal |date=January 9, 1928 |title=The Circus |journal=[[Film Daily|The Film Daily]] |page=1 }}</ref>

In ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Oliver Claxton wrote that the film was "a little disappointing. There are one or two moments when it is very funny, but there are long stretches when it is either mild or dull."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Claxton |first=Oliver |date=January 14, 1928 |title=The Current Cinema |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |location=New York |publisher=F-R Publishing Company |page=65 }}</ref>

==Analysis==
Film historian [[Jeffrey Vance]] views ''The Circus'' as an autobiographical metaphor:

<blockquote>
He joins the circus and revolutionizes the cheap little knockabout comedy among the circus clowns, and becomes an enormous star. But by the end of the movie, the circus is packing up and moving on without him. Chaplin's left alone in the empty circus ring... It reminds me of Chaplin and his place in the world of the cinema. The show is moving on without him. He filmed that sequence four days after the release of ''The Jazz Singer'' (the first successful talkie) in New York. When he put a score to ''The Circus'' in 1928, Chaplin scored that sequence with "[[Blue Skies (1926 song)|Blue Skies]]", the song Jolson had made famous, only Chaplin played it slowly and sorrowfully, like a funeral dirge.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Weddle|first=David|date=April 28, 2003|title=Nothing Obvious or Easy: Chaplin's Feature Films|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|volume=390|issue=11|issn=0042-2738|page=6}}</ref></blockquote>

In his commentary track for the Criterion Collection home video release of the film,  Vance notes: 
<blockquote>
Chaplin—a great cinema auteur—revealed his innermost feelings through his films. In The Circus, he fashioned a scenario that places The Tramp within the confines of a circus and, in so doing, documents, celebrates, and memorializes his own position as the greatest clown of his time. And, that accomplishment—beyond the wonderful comedy—ranks The Circus a major Chaplin film of considerable importance.<ref name="The Circus">{{cite web |title=The Circus |url=https://www.criterion.com/films/27563-the-circus |website=Criterion}}</ref>
</blockquote>

==Musical rescoring==
In 1947, [[Hanns Eisler]] worked on music for the film. Eisler then used the music he composed for his ''Septet No. 2 ("Circus")'' for flute and piccolo, clarinet in B flat, bassoon, and string quartet. Eisler's sketch of scene sequences and rhythms is in the Hans Eisler Archive in Berlin.<ref name="HEAinventar">{{cite book
|title=Hanns Eisler – 's müßt dem Himmel Höllenangst werden
|editor=Maren Köster|publisher=Stiftung Archiv der Akademie der Künste
|chapter=Inventar der Musikautographe im Hanns-Eisler-Archiv|language=de|orig-year=1984|pages=201–295
|trans-chapter=Inventory of the autographs in the Hanns-Eisler-Archive
|first1=Christiane|last1=Niklew|first2=Daniela|last2=Reinhold|first3=Helgard|last3=Rienäcker
|isbn=3923997833|year=1998
}}</ref>

In 1967, Chaplin composed a new musical score for the film and a recording of him singing "Swing Little Girl" playing over the opening credits.<ref>{{cite news|last=King|first=Susan|date=October 16, 2002|title=Chaplin's big-top tension, on and off the screen|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|page=E.3}} {{cite web|last=Robinson|first=David|year=2004|url=http://www.charliechaplin.com/biography/articles/1-The-Circus|title=The Circus|publisher=charliechaplin.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030233012/http://charliechaplin.com/biography/articles/1-The-Circus|archive-date=October 30, 2010}} {{cite web|url=https://www.charliechaplin.com/en/films/4-The-Circus/articles/84-Swing-Little-Girl|title=Swing Little Girl|publisher=charliechaplin.com}}</ref>   A new version of the film opened in New York on December 15, 1969, with the new score.<ref>Ede 2003.  See also: {{cite book|author=American Film Institute|author-link=American Film Institute|editor=Krafsur, Richard P.|year=1997|title=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1961–1970, Part 2|publisher=University of California Press|page=179|isbn=0-520-20970-2}} {{cite news|last=Elliott|first=David|date=December 1, 1994|title='Circus' is pure sound of 'silents'|work=[[The San Diego Union]]|page=16}} {{cite news|last=Greenspun|first=Roger|date=December 16, 1969|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F05E1D7123CEE34BC4E52DFB4678382679EDE|title=Little Tramp:'Circus,' '28 Film With Chaplin, Is Revived|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}} {{cite news|last=Raabe|first=Nancy|date=September 30, 1994|title=A familiar tune: Chaplin's 'Circus' to be shown with original score|newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]]}}</ref> It was released in London in December 1970.<ref name="Mitch59"/>

==Awards==
Charlie Chaplin was originally nominated for three [[Academy Awards]], but the Academy took Chaplin out of the running by giving him a [[1st Academy Awards|Special Award]] "for writing, acting, directing and producing ''The Circus''".<ref name="Mitch59">Mitchell 1997, p. 59.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1399117413368 |title=The Circus |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=May 3, 2014}}</ref> The Academy no longer lists Chaplin's nominations in their official list of nominees, although most unofficial lists include him.<ref name="dirk">{{cite web|title=1927–28 Academy Awards Winners and History |first=Tim |last=Dirks |website=[[Filmsite|FilmSite]]|publisher=[[AMC Networks|Rainbow Media]] |url=http://www.filmsite.org/aa27.html |access-date=October 30, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724204258/http://www.filmsite.org/aa27.html |archive-date=July 24, 2010 }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|-
! Academy Award !! Nominee
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director, Comedy Picture]]
| Charlie Chaplin
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Charlie Chaplin
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Story|Best Writing (Original Story)]]
| Charlie Chaplin
|}

==Preservation==
The Academy Film Archive preserved ''The Circus'' in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=http://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=The+Circus&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive}}</ref>

===Home media===
The Circus was released on Blu-ray and DVD by the Criterion Collection in 2019, which include trailers of the film, archival footage from the production, and an audio commentary track by Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance.<ref name="The Circus"/>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Lynn|first=Kenneth Schuyler|year=1997|title=Charlie Chaplin and his Times|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0-684-80851-X|url=https://archive.org/details/charliechaplinhi00lynn}}
* {{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Glenn|year=1997|title=The Chaplin Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Anova Books|B.T. Batsford Ltd]]|isbn=0-7134-7938-8|url=https://archive.org/details/chaplinencyclope00glen}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last1=Vance|first1=Jeffrey|title=Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema|date=2003|publisher=Harry N. Abrams|location=New York|isbn=0-8109-4532-0|url=https://archive.org/details/chaplingeniusofc00vanc}}
* {{cite journal|last=Vance|first=Jeffrey|year=1996|jstor=3815334|title="The Circus": A Chaplin Masterpiece|journal=Film History|volume=8|issue=2|publisher=Indiana University Press|pages=186–208}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Wikisource|The Circus (film)}}
* {{Official website|http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/biography/articles/1-Filming-the-Circus}}
* {{IMDb title|0018773}}
* {{TCMDb title|324721}}
* {{AFI film|3312}}
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6607-the-circus-the-tramp-in-the-mirror ''The Circus: The Tramp in the Mirror''] an essay by Pamela Hutchinson at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Charlie Chaplin filmography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Circus (1928 film), The}}
[[Category:1928 films]]
[[Category:1928 comedy films]]
[[Category:1920s American films]]
[[Category:1920s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American silent feature films]]
[[Category:Circus films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Charlie Chaplin]]
[[Category:Films scored by Arthur Kay (musician)]]
[[Category:Silent American comedy films]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]