The Circus

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 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 its 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. The Circus, which was rereleased in 1969 with a new score by Chaplin, is an uproarious high-wire act that showcases silent cinema’s most popular entertainer at the peak of his comic powers.

United States
1928
72 minutes
Black & White
1.33:1
Silent
Spine #996

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s 1969 rerelease version of the film, featuring an original score by Chaplin, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New audio commentary featuring Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance
Interview with Chaplin from 1969
New interview with Chaplin’s son Eugene Chaplin
In the Service of the Story, a new program on the film’s visual effects and production design by film scholar Craig Barron
Chaplin Today: “The Circus,” a 2003 documentary on the film featuring filmmaker Emir Kusturica
Excerpted audio interview from 1998 with Chaplin musical associate Eric James
Unused café sequence with new score by composer Timothy Brock, and related outtakes with narration by comedy choreographer Dan Kamin
Newly discovered outtakes featuring the Tramp and the circus rider
Excerpts from the original recording session for the film’s opening song, “Swing Little Girl”
Footage of the film’s 1928 Hollywood premiere
Rerelease trailers
PLUS: An essay by critic Pamela Hutchinson

New cover by Mark Chiarello

Special Features

New 4K digital restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s 1969 rerelease version of the film, featuring an original score by Chaplin, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New audio commentary featuring Chaplin biographer Jeffrey Vance
Interview with Chaplin from 1969
New interview with Chaplin’s son Eugene Chaplin
In the Service of the Story, a new program on the film’s visual effects and production design by film scholar Craig Barron
Chaplin Today: “The Circus,” a 2003 documentary on the film featuring filmmaker Emir Kusturica
Excerpted audio interview from 1998 with Chaplin musical associate Eric James
Unused café sequence with new score by composer Timothy Brock, and related outtakes with narration by comedy choreographer Dan Kamin
Newly discovered outtakes featuring the Tramp and the circus rider
Excerpts from the original recording session for the film’s opening song, “Swing Little Girl”
Footage of the film’s 1928 Hollywood premiere
Rerelease trailers
PLUS: An essay by critic Pamela Hutchinson

New cover by Mark Chiarello

Cast & Credits