The Circus : Dual Format Edition

There is something wonderful about Chaplin's on-screen persona of the Little Tramp as he manages to maintain his dignity despite the various scrapes and unlikely situations in which he finds himself. In the case of The Circus, the Tramp is busy enjoying himself by a circus when a pickpocket, who is about to be arrested by the police, puts the wallet and watch he has just stolen into the unwitting Tramp's pocket. When the pickpocket tries to steal the items back from the Tramp, he is arrested with the police assuming that the Tramp is the rightful owner of the gold pocket watch and wallet containing a great deal of money.

Not wanting or being able to tell them otherwise, he uses the money to buy some food for himself and some hungry children who are waiting around by the food stall but then the proper owner of the items turns up, recognises the watch and signals to the police that the Tramp is the pickpocket who stole from in the first place. Unwilling to be arrested, he flees and runs into the Big Top where his chase by the police turns out to be a massive hit with the audience and far more popular than the clowns whose act they disturbed.

The Tramp doesn't realise that he is extremely popular so the ringmaster is able to sign him on a very low wage as one of the general hired hands who clean up and lug equipment around. It is here that the Tramp takes a shine to the ringmaster's stepdaughter, a trapeze artist, who is being generally mistreated and starved by her stepfather. At first, the Tramp takes umbrage with her attempting to steal part of his breakfast but when he hears the reason why she was so desperate for food, he gives her the rest of his bread and, as he is dragged away to the Big Top by the ringmaster to practice his 'act', he breaks away from the man's grasp and manages to give the woman his boiled egg.

The ringmaster tries to perfect the Tramp's act, not realising that he is at his funniest when just allowed to run riot, completely improvising everything he does and just acting naturally. Whilst the Tramp is on a break, he overhears a fortune teller telling his beloved that she will fall in love with a handsome, tall, dark stranger which the Tramp takes to mean him until a new act arrives in the form of Rex, a tightrope walker who is far more attractive than the Tramp and also a great deal taller. The girl takes the fortune teller's prophecy to mean Rex, not the Tramp, so our little hero begins practising tightrope walking (much to the chagrin of the ringmaster) but, when the big day arrives and Rex is nowhere to be found, the Tramp is called upon for the high wire act.


Although The Circus isn't Chaplin's greatest film, it is full of extremely funny moments. When the Tramp just tries to avoid trouble he just gets himself into an even stickier situation by ruining someone's act and sending the audience into hysterics. There is also a palpable romantic subplot between him and the girl, played by Merna Kennedy, and although (SPOILER ALERT) things don't work out between the two of them, this is entirely fitting with the Tramp's character who is left to the middle of the field, quite happy with a job well done and wandering off to a new adventure.

This version is the 1969 reissue which begins with footage of the girl on the trapeze with Chaplin, then 80 years old, singing a title song.


The Disc

Extra Features
I was only provided with a BD-R for review, only containing the film, but the final release will come with:
• Introduction by David Robinson
• Chaplin Today: The Circus - documentary
• Outtakes
• Photo Gallery

This is a Dual Format release which means it contains both a BD and DVD so will be of interest to those of you who already have a Blu-ray player or are considering buying one in the near future and will use the DVD in the interim period or fancy watching the film in more locations than where your Blu-ray player is located.


The Picture
This is a marked improvement over the DVD and the remastered high definition picture is a great deal clearer and with fewer scratches and other detritus than the standard definition picture. Contrast levels are noticeably higher which makes the monochrome photography seem even more impressive and you can pick out slight details that were not as visible (such as the safety line when the Tramp is being supported on the high wire) on DVD.

Obviously, this is not the sort of film that you would show to your friends to try and convince them of the virtues of Blu-ray and high definition but it is a marked improvement that will please those who love the film.

The Sound
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is, like the picture, much better than the Dolby Digital one on the DVD and, thanks to the remastering process, has less pops and crackle and virtually no background hiss. There is also an LPCM 2.0 mono option which does the job just as well although you do miss out when the score is directed to the rears, albeit very slightly.

The score is, as usual for a silent Chaplin picture, absolutely perfect so every bit of emotion is highlighted by the music and it's surprising just how exciting some of the more frenetic set pieces are because of the tempo set by the score.


Final Thoughts
I imagine that this will be a release for Chaplin aficionados who wouldn't mind double dipping from the previous mk2 DVD release -- itself a very good disc -- as you are really paying for an improved AV package rather than any brand-new special features. The Circus isn't Chaplin's best but, then again, he set the bar so high with the likes of Modern Times and City Lights that most of his films failed to match them. Looking at it on its own merits, it is a remarkably funny and endearing picture with Chaplin's slapstick humour and stunt work as good as it has ever been and is a film that those who are only slightly familiar with Chaplin's work but haven't seen this film should really check out.