THE CIRCUS (1928) B/W "silent" 105m dir: Charles Chaplin

w/Charles Chaplin, Allan Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Betty Morrissey, Harry Crocker, Henry Bergman, Stanley Sanford, John Rand, George Davis, Steve Murphy, Doc Stone

From Georges Sadoul's Dictionary of Films: "A tramp (Chaplin) is mistaken for a pickpocket and takes refuge in a circus, where he gets a job as a handyman and studies to be a clown. ...

"This film has a perfect dramatic structure; there are some scenes full of pathos (the tramp being funny when he doesn't intend to be) and the ending is tragic. Famous sequences: Chaplin's tightrope act during which the safety device breaks and he is attacked by three escaped monkeys; the wild chase through a hall of mirrors; his imitation of traditional clown acts (suggestive of Limelight); his being locked in the lion's cage; the ending, with Chaplin sadly watching the wagons depart in the early morning in front of a circle of sawdust left by the circus."