
The Chaplin film that Chaplin himself tried to forget — and one of his most purely entertaining. The Little Tramp, fleeing the police, stumbles into a circus tent and accidentally becomes the star of the show, his panicked attempts to escape funnier than anything the professional clowns can manage. When he falls in love with the bareback rider (Merna Kennedy), his happiness evaporates: she loves the handsome new tightrope walker instead. Chaplin's behind-the-scenes struggles during production were legendary — a bitter divorce, a studio fire, a year's halt — and perhaps that's why he omitted the film from his autobiography. But the work itself is pure magic: the lion cage sequence alone is worth the price of admission, and the bittersweet ending, with the Tramp watching the circus move on without him, is among his most quietly devastating.
The Chaplin film that Chaplin himself tried to forget — and one of his most purely entertaining. The Little Tramp, fleeing the police, stumbles into a circus tent and accidentally becomes the star of the show, his panicked attempts to escape funnier than anything the professional clowns can manage. When he falls in love with the bareback rider (Merna Kennedy), his happiness evaporates: she loves the handsome new tightrope walker instead. Chaplin's behind-the-scenes struggles during production were legendary — a bitter divorce, a studio fire, a year's halt — and perhaps that's why he omitted the film from his autobiography. But the work itself is pure magic: the lion cage sequence alone is worth the price of admission, and the bittersweet ending, with the Tramp watching the circus move on without him, is among his most quietly devastating.

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)

Chester A. Bachman
Cop (uncredited)
Eugene Barry
Cop (uncredited)
Jack Bernard
Man in Circus Audience (uncredited)

Stanley Blystone
Cop (uncredited)

Heinie Conklin
Clown (uncredited)
cinematographer
writer