The circus
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The circus |
| Original title | The Circus |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1928 |
| length | 69 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Charlie Chaplin |
| script | Charlie Chaplin |
| production | Charlie Chaplin |
| music | Charlie Chaplin (1969) |
| camera | Roland Totheroh |
| cut | Charlie Chaplin |
| occupation | |
| |
The circus (English title: The Circus ) is a silent movie - comedy of Charlie Chaplin from 1928.
action
The tramp is falsely suspected of pickpocketing and is being chased by the police. On the run, he bursts into a circus performance and involuntarily makes the audience laugh. The ringmaster then wants to hire him as a clown. But the tramp can't be funny on command, so he's only employed as a prop master. Due to the mishaps that happen to him, he becomes the main attraction of the circus - without even knowing anything about it and therefore continues with the same poor salary. Only Merna, an art rider and the director's stepdaughter, opens the tramp's eyes and ensures that the ringmaster now has to pay him properly. Merna is regularly beaten by her stepfather. By standing up for her as the star of the performances, the tramp also ensures that the ringmaster treats her better.
Charlie falls in love with the equestrian and dreams of a future together, especially when a fortune teller Merna prophesies that she will soon find happiness with a “tall, handsome man” who is already close to her. Shortly afterwards, however, Merna meets the newly engaged tightrope walker Rex, with whom she falls in love on the spot. The tramp's lovesickness also affects his performances, which are becoming increasingly uncomfortable. Instead, the jealous tramp tries himself with moderate success as a tightrope walker. When Rex could not be found for a performance, the unscrupulous ringmaster sent the tramp onto the rope at risk of death. Despite major balance problems and a few monkeys that bother him massively, he survives the rope act without falling.
When the ringmaster beats Merna again a little later and the tramp beats him up for it, he is fired. Merna wants to run away with the tramp, but he suspects that they cannot have a future together. Instead, he ensures that Rex and Merna can marry. When the ringmaster wants to hit Merna again the next day, Rex explains that she is now his wife and that he shouldn't hit her. While the traveling circus leaves, the tramp remains alone.
production
The world premiere took place on January 6, 1928 at the Strand Theater in New York . The film premiered on January 27th at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood as part of a spectacular circus performance. The circus was the last of Chaplin during the silent film era film shot since the late 1920s, the talkies prevailed. His next films, Lights of the Big City (1931) and Modern Times (1936), were still silent, but by this point the talkies had already established themselves.
For Chaplin, the eleven months of filming The Circus were associated with negative memories and he was also dissatisfied with his film at the end, which may be one reason why he only mentions the film in one sentence in his 1964 autobiography. Chaplin only approached his work in the post-production of the film in the late 1960s.
The breakthrough of the sound film with The Jazzsinger during the shooting presented Chaplin with an uncertain future, since as a silent film comedian he was already seen by many as a relic of the past - especially since Chaplin's comedy consisted not least of pantomime . It was therefore uncertain how the film would be received at the box office during this transition to sound film. In September 1926, a fire broke out in the filming studio, which delayed filming by two months.
Chaplin's biggest problem, however, was probably the divorce scandal with his wife Lita Gray , whom he married in 1924 at the age of 16. In the course of the mud fight, details about Chaplin's allegedly dirty sex life came to light, and several affairs became public. On the set, Chaplin had an affair with his leading actress Merna Kennedy , who, ironically, was also a good friend of Gray. During the divorce process, Chaplin's fortune was temporarily frozen, also because the state also accused Chaplin of tax evasion amounting to around one million US dollars. In the end, Chaplin and Gray agreed that she would receive nearly $ 1 million. Even so, the divorce from Gray was a permanent damage to the image of Chaplin. Towards the end of the filming of The Circus , he suffered a nervous breakdown.
The plot has some similarities to the 1925 silent film comedy Max, the circus king of the French comedian Max Linder . This was Linders last film, as he shortly afterwards with his wife suicide committed. Chaplin had always seen the deceased as a role model and allowed himself to be strongly influenced, especially in his early years. Therefore, The Circus is sometimes seen as a homage to Linder. Chaplin himself had been working on the idea of a circus comedy since around 1920. For the scene with the monkeys on the rope, Chaplin learned how to dance tight rope because he wanted to shoot it without any tricks.
The United Artists took over distribution , as Chaplin was a shareholder in the film company. The Roy Export Company Establishment , controlled by Chaplin and later his heirs, is the current rights holder.
music
The post-production of the film was already contractually agreed between Chaplin and Hanns Eisler in 1948, but because of the summons to the “Unamerican Committee” it did not materialize for Eisler.
Charlie Chaplin wrote the music for the film's re-release in the late 1960s and sang the title track Swing Little Girl himself . The new version of Chaplin had its world premiere on December 15, 1969 in New York.
Awards
Chaplin was for his performance in the film The Circus in the Oscars 1929 in the category ' Best Actor nomination'. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to take Chaplin out of the running and instead give him an honorary Oscar for "his versatility and his genius as a writer, actor, director and producer" of The Circus .
Reviews
The circus became a commercial success, but lagged slightly behind the box office results of his previous film Gold Rush . Some critics also complained that the gold rush was artistically more ambitious and that the newer was a step backwards for Chaplin. Even so, the film received good reviews overall, for many the film was a bit of a return to Chaplin's classic slapstick that made him famous. On the US critic portal Rotten Tomatoes , all 18 reviews are positive, which means a rating of 100%.
The lexicon of international films is full of praise : “Chaplin's second major project [...] marks the end of his silent film period. Significant grotesque gags than before interferes in the virtuosic unleashed fireworks an undercurrent of melancholy. A balancing act between comedy and tragedy with the taste of bitterness "When the film was shown after its premiere back in the cinema 41 years, came the Protestant Film Observer to the following assessment: “Again Charlie is the tragicomic hero, the little vagabond, over whom one can pour out laughing, but who is also able to make one sentimental and wistful and melancholy. Highly recommended (from 10). "
Web links
- The circus in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Background to the film
- The Circus: The Chaplin Collection
Individual evidence
- ^ The Circus. Retrieved January 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Lexikon des Internationale Films, rororo-Taschenbuch No. 6322 (1988), p. 4420
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 269/1969.