693. The Circus (1928)

*The Warlock opens the door to his lair. He’s wearing a black leather jacket, a Jayson Tatum Boston Celtics #0 jersey, blue jeans, white sneakers and gargoyle shades. He’s holding a Mega Pint of Barq’s Root Beer*

W: Welcome to my lair…welcome I don’t think so, but enter. Enter my lair if you dare. I’m your host The Warlock.

*Warlock makes the ground rumble before walking inside*

W: Welcome back to Public Domain Week here at Warlock’s Movie Realm. After the drama of the last movie, we’re going back to comedy for this one. Now this is going to special because I’m about to watch my first Charlie Chaplin movie. That’s right, all my life I’ve never seen one of his movies beginning to end. That changes now as tonight’s movie is the 1928 silent comedy THE CIRCUS.

*Warlock takes his seat in the middle of the couch*

W: Now I did read up on this and I found some startling information. The movie got delayed due to Chaplin going through personal hell. His mother passed away, his wife divorced him, the studio caught fire and the IRS was breathing down his neck. Still, he persevered and managed to make what many consider to be his best film.

*Warlock takes a swig of his drink*

W: So what’s THE CIRCUS about? Chaplin is on the run from cops and robbers and stumbles into a traveling circus where he unintentionally becomes the star of the show. Like I said earlier I’ve never seen a Chaplin comedy so I don’t know his style. I know Harry Lloyd and Buster Keaton’s slapstick styles but as the kids say, I’m not familiar with Charlie game. That changes now because I’ve always heard his comedies were classics so I’ll expect greatness. So grab your popcorn, grab your drink and grab your woman because its time for THE CIRCUS.

Written and Directed by Charlie Chaplin

Cast:

Charles Chaplin	…	A Tramp (as Charlie Chaplin)
	Al Ernest Garcia	…	The Circus Proprietor and Ring Master (as Allan Garcia)
	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 (as Stanley J. Sandford)
	John Rand	…	An Assistant Property Man
	Steve Murphy	…	A Pickpocket
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
	Albert Austin	…	Clown (uncredited)
	Chester A. Bachman	…	Cop (uncredited)
	Eugene Barry	…	Cop (uncredited)
	Jack Bernard	…	Man in Circus Audience (uncredited)
	Stanley Blystone	…	Cop (uncredited)
	Heinie Conklin	…	Clown (uncredited)
	Bill Knight	…	Cop (uncredited)
	Toraichi Kono	…	Man in Circus Audience (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
	H.L. Kyle	…	Man in Circus Audience (uncredited)
	Betty Morrissey	…	The Vanishing Lady (uncredited)
	L.J. O’Connor	…	Cop (uncredited)
	Jack P. Pierce	…	Man Operating Ropes (uncredited)
	Wyn Ritchie Evans	…	Crowd (uncredited)
	Hugh Saxon	…	Man in Circus Audience (uncredited)
	Doc Stone	…	The Prizefighter (uncredited)
	Armand Triller	…	Clown (uncredited)
	Max Tyron	…	Pickpocket Victim (uncredited)

*Warlock reads the tag-line*

W: “The Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus.”

W: I forgot to mention usually he played the same character in every movie, a wandering bum. Made sense of how he’d get into different mishaps in different locations.