Otherwise, this comedy is near-perfect and holds its own against Chaplin's even greater features, "The Gold Rush," "City Lights" and "Modern Times. I could have done without the title-sequence song (which he sings himself)-something about looking up at rainbows. His scores are always repetitive but they're also sweet and funny and they enhance the action. I enjoyed the music, which Chaplin composed for this film in 1969. (Has anyone seen the Swiss clock routine from "Your Show of Shows"?) He also falls in love with the ringmaster's cruelly treated daughter, which leads to a poignant ending. There's a marvelous funhouse sequence and a priceless routine where The Tramp pretends to be a motorized dummy. "The Circus" is funny throughout, but the opening scenes are probably the best. This is Chaplin's last true silent film, and the Keystone moment feels like a nostalgic farewell to the past. Clowns, jugglers, acrobats, and tightrope walkers amaze the crowd at the circus, where kids get into the act riding elephants, dressing up in clown costumes, putting on makeup, and performing in the center ring. Later, there's a funny twist to the old banana peel gag and near the end he crashes into an old general store, looking as if he's thrust himself back into his old Keystone days. Also, at the same time, Ceaser runs into a marketer who wants to franchise the Death Race. The Tramp ineptly (but hilariously) performs a couple of standard comedy routines with the other circus clowns. This film has more self-awareness over comedy conventions that any other Chaplin I know of.
![at the circus imdb at the circus imdb](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNDUzOTUwOTgtMjlmMS00MGFkLThiY2EtZWY0MTJkYTMyNWQ1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg)
My favorite moment is when the ringmaster demands the auditioning Tramp to be funny right that instant: the Tramp grins and shyly dances around a bit, gingerly falls down, puts his cane between his legs and meekly lifts himself back up. Despite this danger, and despite Chaplin's off-screen egotism, the premise plays beautifully, especially since The Little Tramp (though not Chaplin) is such a terrible comedian when he's trying to be one. When a comedian plays a character who is inadvertently hilarious, it can seem narcissistic: just check out Jerry Lewis's "The Errand Boy" where Lewis has his supporting cast praise the comic genius of the character played by Jerry Lewis. The Little Tramp is chased into a circus tent during a performance his antics prove funnier than those of the clowns, and the ringmaster hires him for the show. The Circus tells the story of a poor tramp who while at a circus is mistaken for a pickpocket by the police and in his effort to elude them, becomes an accidental sensation of the show.