The Circus
The Circus is Here!
1928 • 72 min • Comedy · Romance · Drama
Synopsis
Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman - soon the star of the show - and falls in love with the circus owner's stepdaughter.
Our family guide
Best from age 7- 100 Reviewers · 2 · 51%
- 79 Audience · 909 · 49%
Charlie Chaplin's iconic tramp character finds himself tangled in circus life, falling for the owner's stepdaughter. He unwittingly becomes the star attraction, bringing laughter and chaos to the big top, while navigating tricky relationships.
- Violence & peril
- 2/10
- Language
- 0/10
- Drinking, drugs & smoking
- 0/10
- Romance & sensuality
- 1/10
- Scary moments
- 1/10
Heads up
- Slapstick pratfalls and chases
- A character is exploited for their talent
What it models well
- Perseverance and resilience
- Kindness to animals
- Finding your place
Talk about it after
- The nature of unrequited love
- Differences between silent and modern films
- Working hard to achieve goals
Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for The Circus. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.
Where to watch
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Top billed cast
Director: Charlie Chaplin • Crew: Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
A Tramp
Al Ernest Garcia
The Circus Proprietor and Ring Master
Merna Kennedy
The Proprietor's Step-Daughter Merna, a Circus Rider
Harry Crocker
Rex, a Tight Rope Walker
George Davis
A Magician
Henry Bergman
An Old Clown
Tiny Sandford
The Head Property Man
John Rand
An Assistant Property Man
Steve Murphy
A Pickpocket
Albert Austin
Clown (uncredited)
Trailers & clips
The Circus ≣ 1928 ≣ Trailer
The Circus - Trailer
Reviewer notes
RecommendedTrusted family reviewersThis is definitely my favourite Charlie Chaplin outing for the “Tramp” as he alights at the circus and discovers that he has quite a penchant for entertaining the crowds. Of course, we only discover this after a few mishaps with the police who think he’s a vagrant trained by “Fagin” lead him to the big top where his antics cause ructions of laughter.…
RecommendedTrusted family reviewersWhen I'm faced with challenges in my life, I am somewhat heartened by something I learned as a child, that an oyster has to be irritated by a grain of sand in order to eventually make a pearl. That knowledge always made the load I was carrying seem less significant, and helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.…
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Gallery
Details
- TMDB audience
- 7.9/10 (909)
- Age rating
- G
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $9,000,000
- IMDb
- tt0018773
