The Circus (1927-28)

Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus was nominated for three awards in the first year of the Oscars, making Chaplin the first person to be nominated for multiple honors in a single year. However, he was removed from the nominee lists in all categories and was presented a Special Award instead. In the words of the Academy at the time, “The Academy Board of Judges on merit awards for individual achievements in motion picture arts during the year ending August 1, 1928, unanimously decided that your name should be removed from the competitive classes, and that a special first award be conferred upon you for writing, acting, directing and producing The Circus. The collective accomplishments thus displayed place you in a class by yourself.” Despite creating some of the true masterpieces of the silent and early sound era, Chaplin would not receive another Academy Award until 1971, another honorary award, this time for his lifetime contributions. The Circus is a charming example of Chaplin’s skill at moviemaking. It’s a somewhat thin plot, to be sure, since it’s mostly about the Tramp trying to succeed as a circus performer and falling in love with the beautiful daughter of the circus owner (she also rides a horse in the show). What makes this film stand out are the various “gags” that Chaplin and the others perform. The Tramp is hilariously funny, but only when he doesn’t try to be funny or when he doesn’t know he’s being funny. He interrupts several circus acts to riotously hilarious impact, and the crowd loves him more than anything else in the show. The owner (also the ringmaster) hires him and tries to make him conform to the established skits like the William Tell gag or the barbershop gag. However, the Tramp is so bad at doing what he's told that it becomes an even funnier act when, for example, he replaces the apple on his head with a half-eaten banana. He also winds up in a cage with a sleepy lion at one point and manages to get a lot of laughs out of the danger he faces. The Circus isn’t just about the humorous bits, though. It also mines the pathos of the characters such as the Tramp and Merna, the horse rider, as he realizes that she loves someone else and works to help the couple get married. We also get a couple of great camera tricks, such as a double exposure where we watch the Tramp imagine himself kicking Rex, the object of Merna’s affections. And the centerpiece of the film is probably a tightrope sequence where the Tramp is besieged by monkeys after losing the harness that was keeping him upright so high above the circus floor. The ending – with its famous iris in – finds the Tramp alone in the abandoned field where the circus tent had been housed. He’s by himself again. The show, as the saying goes, must go on, and it has to do so without him. Criterion released a beautiful version of The Circus a couple of years ago, and it is filled with extras like deleted scenes and interviews that place the film within its historical and personal context.

Oscar Win: Honorary Award for Chaplin’s writing, directing, acting, and producing

Oscar Nominations: Best Directing of a Comedy Picture (Charles Chaplin), Best Actor (Charles Chaplin), and Best Original Story