![[box cover]](../../reviewimgs/c/circus.jpg)
The Circus: The Chaplin Collection
Wedged between two unequivocal classics, The Gold
Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931), 1928's The Circus is
remembered as Charlie Chaplin's undervalued "forgotten" feature-length Tramp
film. This comedy-romance, in which the Tramp wanders into a traveling
circus and unwittingly becomes its star attraction, remained largely out of
circulation for forty years. It turns out that The Circus is a comic
delight and deserves a spotlight as a representative of Chaplin's maturing
work in feature films. The highlight places the Tramp in a nightmare
situation high on a tightrope when his support harness breaks away, leaving
him stranded high above the crowd with only his wits — then he's
besieged by a pack of aggressive monkeys who cling to him and pull down his
trousers, revealing that he's forgotten his tights. It's a gem of a comedy.
The DVD, part of The Chaplin Collection from MK2 and Warner Bros., is
likewise a splendid discovery. The print is quite good and the supplements
are a treasure trove for Chaplinologists. Dual-DVD keep-case in paperboard
sleeve.
—Mark Bourne
