Read more
In the last film he made during the silent era, Charlie Chaplin revels in the art of the circus, paying tribute to the acrobats and pantomimists who inspired his virtuoso pratfalls. After being mistaken for a pickpocket, Chaplin's Little Tramp flees into the ring of a traveling circus and soon becomes the star of the show, falling for the troupe's bareback rider along the way. Despite it's famously troubled production, this gag-packed comedy ranks among Chaplin's finest, thanks to some of the most audacious set pieces of the director-performer's career, including a close brush with a lion and a climactic tightrope walk with a barrelful of monkeys. Re-released in 1969 with a new score by Chaplin, The Circus is an uproarious high-wire act that showcases silent cinema's most popular entertainer at the peak of his comic powers.
Charles Chaplin won an Honorary Academy Award for versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus. In this silent comedy, The Tramp finds himself at a circus, where he promptly gets chased by the police, who think he is a pickpocket. Running into the big top, The Tramp is an accidental sensation with his hilarious efforts to elude the police and immediately gets hired by the ringmaster. This Blu-ray-only release features the film restored in HD, with the following extras: Chaplin Today, Introduction by David Robinson, Deleted scenes and outtakes.