The Circus - videos, teasers and stills from filming

All videos, teasers and footage from the filming of the film "The Circus"

The Circus (1928)

Timing: 1:12 (72 min)

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All about film

Video 3

Photo 47

Actors and characters

The Circus - Trailer

English

2:13

The Circus ≣ 1928 ≣ Trailer

English

2:26

Charlie Chaplin - The Lion Cage - Full Scene (The Circus, 1928)

Pусский

3:39

What's left behind the scenes

Although Chaplin was nominated for an «Oscar» for Best Actor, the Academy decided to honor him with a special honorary award with the citation «For versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus».
The scene where Chaplin is bitten by monkeys was an accident. The cage accidentally opened and the enraged animals attacked the actor. Charlie was shocked for the first few seconds (which is visible), but then he just shouted: «Don't stop filming!»
Before filming began, Charles Chaplin (1889-1977) practiced walking the tightrope for weeks. He performed on a rope stretched 13 meters above the ground. Unfortunately, the footage was lost because the negatives were scratched during film processing, and the scene had to be reshot. Chaplin himself believed the second take was worse than the first.
Chaplin did over 200 takes of the scenes with lions, and in many of these scenes he actually entered the cage with the predators. So the fear on his face was completely genuine.
Work on the film had to be postponed for almost a year due to several incidents: a fire at the studio, Chaplin's scandalous divorce, a dispute with the US tax authorities, technical problems with the laboratory that resulted in the loss of four weeks of footage, and a hurricane that destroyed the circus tent. All of this led to a three-year gap between the release of Chaplin's previous film ("The Gold Rush", 1925) and this one.
Although Chaplin was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to honor him separately and presented him with a special honorary award with the citation "For versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing and producing The Circus."
The scene where Chaplin is bitten by monkeys was an accident. The cage opened accidentally, and the enraged animals attacked the actor. Charlie was in shock for the first few seconds (which is visible), but then he just shouted: "Don't stop filming!"

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