Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.
This time, Charlie Chaplin’s The Circus.
Desperately fleeing the authorities, a lovable tramp finds his way into the heart of a local circus. Initially struggling to find a place among the performers, the rogue strikes up a connection with the cruel ring master’s daughter. However, as a dashing tightrope walker vies for her affections, can the tramp strike the perfect balance?
At time of recording, it was ranked 232nd on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.
Show Notes:
- Recorded 20th June 2020.
- Note: Due to the COVID-19 situation, this episode was recorded remotely. We suspect, going forward that a lot of our episodes will be until the crisis resolves.
- Note: Darren confuses the year that Charlie Chaplin won his only competitive Oscar. He said it was 1979. It was in fact 1973.
- The Circus at The Internet Movie Database.
- The IMDB Top 250 as it appeared at time of recording.
- An advertising for The Circus in Film Daily, December 1926.
- Laura Williams at Runners World on the mechanics of having on leg longer than the other, January 2019.
- Laura Clark at The Smithsonian Magazine on the ransoming of Charles Chaplin’s body, March 2015.
- Miles Surrey at The Ringer on how the current pandemic is forcing the Academy to accept streaming movies, April 2020.
- Bilge Ebiri at Vulture criticises the Academy Awards for moving the eligibility window, June 2020.
- Poppy Noor at The Guardian on the inevitable generation wars between Generation Z and millennials, June 2020.
- Roger Greenspun at The New York Times on the re-release of The Circus, December 1969.
- Lawrence Van Gelder at The New York Times reports on a season of “Silent Clowns” screening at the Eighth Street Playhouse, including The Circus, February 1979.
- Vincent Canby at The New York Times on the Chaplin Centenary at the Museum of Modern Art, including The Circus, April 1989.
- Zack Sharf at IndieWire on criticisms of the criteria for selection for the Criterion Collection, August 2020.
- Pamela Hutchinson celebrates The Circus at The Criterion Collection, September 2019.
- Alan Vanneman at Bright Lights Film Journal on the pre-production and development of The Circus, April 2008.
- Kinematograph reports on Charlie Chaplin passing on The Suicide Club, October 1925.
- Chaplin is For the Ages offers snapshots of Chaplin in costume as Napoleon, March 2018.
- The New York Times reports on Charlie Chaplin’s efforts to cast his Napoleon biopic, December 1927.
- Sam May at Little White Lies offers a portrait of The Circus as Chaplin’s last truly silent film, January 2018.
- Burt A. Folkart at The Los Angeles Times eulogises Lita Grey, December 1995.
- Lauren Oliver at Vice on the dark legacy of Charlie Chaplin’s personal life, April 2016.
- Martin Chilton at The Telegraph on Charlie Chaplin’s divorce scandal, July 2020.
- Emily Smith at Page Six reports on discovered documents covering Lita Grey’s allegation against Charlie Chaplin, April 2015.
- Emma Alsop at The Artifice on the lives and loves of Charlie Chaplin, January 2013.
- Roger Ebert reviews The Circus at The Chicago Sun Times, October 2010.
- James Runcie at The Independent reviews Peter Ackroyd’s biography of Charlie Chaplin, April 2014.
- Katherine Yamada at The Los Angeles Times on the challenges of shooting The Circus, September 2019.
- The Chicago Tribune offers a guide to Sopranos lexicon, March 2006.
- Ted Fendt at Cinématographe on the importance of Chaplin’s Tramp as a mythic figure, February 1978.
- Akarsh Mehrotra at Scoop Whoop on the importance of poverty in informing and shaping Charlie Chaplin’s films, April 2017.
- Richard Brody takes a snapshot of Charlie Chaplin’s life and times for The New Yorker, September 2015.
- Richard Brody at The New Yorker on the dignity of Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp, August 2010.
- Kevin Filipski at The New York Times on Chaplin’s ability to blend a smile and tear, July 2000.
- James Agee at Life argues for the silent era as comedy’s greatest period, September 1949.
- Donald Clarke at The Irish Times on the question of how long a feature film is, June 2011.
- Arthur Chu at The Daily Beast on the experience of “your princess is in another castle”, May 2014.
- Jeffrey Vance at Film History on the importance of The Circus, 1996.
- Damian Corless at The Independent on Charlie Chaplin likening himself to Jesus Christ, April 2014.
- Hua Hsa at The New Yorker on the continued relevance of Dr. Dre, August 2015.
- Lily Rothman at Time on the influence and impact of The Jazz Singer, October 2014.
- Kate Finan at Boom Box Post on the history of sound in animation, November 2015.
- Helen Stoddard at Studies in Popular Culture on The Circus as a metaphor for the silent era, Fall 2015.
- Photograph of Charlie Chaplin and Casey’s Circus, May 1906.
- Andrew McConnell Stott at Lapham’s Quarterly on the trope of comedians haunted by demons, Fall 2014.
- Simon Louvish at The Guardian on the debt that Charlie Chaplin owed to music hall theatre, March 2009.
- Edward Rothstein at The New York Times on the rediscovered original soundtrack for The Circus, February 1994.
- Jonathan Gunning talks to The Independent at attending clown school, December 2013.
- Actors talk to Politico about how Charlie Chaplin inspired them, December 2011.
- Robbie Collin at The Telegraph talks about Gene Wilder as a later-day Charlie Chaplin, August 2016.
- “How to React Naturally”, Joe Ramoni, March 2020.
- “Kid Auto Races at Venice”, Charles Chaplin, February 1914.
- “The Vagabond”, Charles Chaplin, July 1916.
- “A Dog’s Life”, Charles Chaplin, April 1918.
- David Kalat at Filmstruck on the life and times of Max Linder, January 2016.
- Pamela Hutchinson at The Guardian on the reappraisal of Max Linder, November 2019.
- The New European celebrates Max Linder and Charlie Chaplin as the ancestors of modern cinema, October 2017.
- Gary Kamiya at The San Francisco Gate Chronicle reflects on author John Steinback, March 1995.
- John Bengston at Silent Locations on the evolution of thrill comedy through Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, September 2019.
- D. Cairns at Shadowplay on the silent movie career of Josephine the Monkey, December 2009.
- Joel Styer at Laff in the Dark on the history of Noah’s Ark, 1999.
- Peter Ackroyd talks to The Telegraph about the homoeroticism of the pantomime, April 2014.
- Jay Weston at The Huffington Post on Charlie Chaplin’s eventual Oscars victory, December 2017.
- “Chaplin-Laudner Charity Film” at Mubi, January 1918.
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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: black and white, charlie chaplin, comedy, films, lita grey, love, Movies, podcast, silent era, silent film, talkies, the circus |
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