The Circus
A penniless tramp joins a struggling circus and must outwit chaos and rivalry to become its unlikely star—and win the heart of the owner’s stepdaughter before the show collapses.
“The Circus is Here!”
Synopsis
Charlie, a wandering tramp, takes a job as a circus handyman and quickly rises to become the star of the show. He also develops feelings for the circus owner's stepdaughter.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
Principal cast & crew: 26
These are the principals we have on file — the full crew ran to the hundreds. Every film this size was made by far more hands than any credits list ever names.
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Shot by Roland TotherohScored by Charles Chaplin
Box Office
1928 · Box office
Produced on a $9.0M budget
Production budget
$9.0M
Also known as
- Der Zirkusde
- El circoes
- Le Cirquefr
- Il circoit
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Cast & Crew
26 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Charles Chaplin
as A Tramp
Charlie Chaplin
as A Tramp
Merna Kennedy
as The Proprietor's Step-Daughter Merna - A Circus Rider
Al Ernest Garcia
as The Circus Proprietor and Ring Master
Harry Crocker
as Rex - A Tight Rope Walker
George Davis
as A Magician
Henry Bergman
as An Old Clown
Tiny Sandford
as The Head Property Man
John Rand
as An Assistant Property Man
Steve Murphy
as A Pickpocket
Albert Austin
as Clown
Chester A Bachman
as Cop (uncredited)
Supporting cast
13Eugene Barry
as Cop (uncredited)
Jack Bernard
as Man in Circus Audience (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone
as Cop (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin
as Clown (uncredited)
Toraichi Kono
as Man in Circus Audience (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
H L Kyle
as Man in Circus Audience (uncredited)
Betty Morrissey
as The Vanishing Lady (uncredited)
Jack Pierce
as Man Operating Ropes (uncredited)
Wyn Ritchie Evans
as Woman in Crowd (uncredited)
Hugh Saxon
as Man in Circus Audience (uncredited)
Doc Stone
as The Prizefighter (uncredited)
Armand Triller
as Clown (uncredited)
Max Tyron
as Pickpocket Victim (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
1Producers
1Other crew
2Parents Guide
AI Personalities
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