A short promotional film on premiere of Chaplin's "The Circus", this material is only worth seeing due to its historical importance in the terms of film memory. Nothing more than that. Here's a silent short film presenting many stars like Alice Day, John Barrymore, Adolphe Menjou, Chaplin himself and others walking into the Grauman Chinese Theater to watch Chaplin's then latest release - Jackie Coogan steals the show with an adorable moment when the radio host had to lower the microphone so he could speak.
But without the sound we're given very little besides glamorous stars smiling and briefly chatting to a celebrities columnist from a radio program. It reminded of "The Aviator", in that sequence where Howard Hughes and Jean Harlow are talking about "Hell's Angels", a huge spectacle set up in that very same place - Scorsese's team research was genius because those promotional moments during a premiere where really spectacular and filled with glamour. Yet "The Circus: Premiere" survived in some archive, with great image quality and it's good to see despite its lack of a greater effect.
Said film can be viewed as bonus material for "The Circus", special release from Warner, along with many other documentaries and renewed sequences. 6/10
But without the sound we're given very little besides glamorous stars smiling and briefly chatting to a celebrities columnist from a radio program. It reminded of "The Aviator", in that sequence where Howard Hughes and Jean Harlow are talking about "Hell's Angels", a huge spectacle set up in that very same place - Scorsese's team research was genius because those promotional moments during a premiere where really spectacular and filled with glamour. Yet "The Circus: Premiere" survived in some archive, with great image quality and it's good to see despite its lack of a greater effect.
Said film can be viewed as bonus material for "The Circus", special release from Warner, along with many other documentaries and renewed sequences. 6/10
