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Films with theme "Circus films", sorted by revenue

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Freaks
Freaks (1932)
, 1h4
Directed by Tod Browning
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Circus films, Medical-themed films, Films about disabilities
Actors Wallace Ford, Edgar Allan Woolf, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, Harry Earles

The film opens with a sideshow barker drawing customers to visit the sideshow. A woman looks into a box to view a hidden occupant and screams. The barker explains that the horror in the box was once a beautiful and talented trapeze artist. The central story is of this conniving trapeze artist Cleopatra, who seduces and marries sideshow midget Hans after learning of his large inheritance. Cleopatra conspires with circus strongman Hercules to kill Hans and inherit his wealth. At their wedding reception, Cleopatra begins poisoning Hans' wine. Oblivious, the other "freaks" announce that they accept Cleopatra in spite of her being a "normal" outsider: they hold an initiation ceremony in which they pass a massive goblet of wine around the table while chanting, "We accept her, we accept her. One of us, one of us. Gooba-gobble, gooba-gobble". The ceremony frightens the drunken Cleopatra, who accidentally reveals that she has been having an affair with Hercules. She mocks the freaks, tosses the wine in their faces and drives them away. The humiliated Hans realizes that he's been played for a fool and rejects Cleopatra's attempts to apologize, but then he falls ill from the poison.
Santa Sangre
Santa Sangre (1990)
, 2h3
Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky
Origin Mexique
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Fantastic, Fantasy, Horror
Themes Circus films, Films about children, Medical-themed films, Films about religion, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Transgender in film, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Blanca Guerra, Adán Jodorowsky, Axel Jodorowsky, Guy Stockwell, Faviola Elenka Tapia, Sergio Bustamante

The film starts with a naked figure sitting in a tree in what looks like a mental asylum. Nurses come out to him, bringing a plate of conventional food and also one of a raw fish. As they try to coax him off of his perch, it is the fish that persuades him to come down. As the nurses get him to put on some overalls, the viewer sees that he has a tattoo of phoenix on his chest.
Clown and His Dogs
Clown and His Dogs
, 15minutes
Directed by Charles-Émile Reynaud
Origin France
Genres Comedy, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Circus films, Films about dogs, Mise en scène d'un mammifère

Le clown entre et salue. Les trois caniches font divers exercices : se tiennent debout, prennent la baguette dans leur gueule, passent à travers un cerceau, marchent sur une boule, sautent par-dessus la baguette, etc.
Be Silent, Sorrow, Be Silent
Be Silent, Sorrow, Be Silent (1918)
, 1h21
Directed by Piotr Tchardynine
Origin Russie
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Circus films
Actors Vera Kholodnaïa, Piotr Tchardynine, Ossip Runitsch, Vitold Polonski, Vladimir Maksimov

Paula is a circus performer married to clown-acrobat Lorio. Lorio drinks heavily, and eventually he is critically injured when he performs drunk. The crippled Lorio and Paula are forced to become street musicians.
The Unknown
The Unknown (1927)
, 1h5
Directed by Tod Browning
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Romance
Themes Circus films
Actors Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford, Nick De Ruiz, John George, Frank Lanning

Alonzo the Armless is a circus freak who uses his feet to toss knives and fire a rifle at his partner, Nanon. However, he is an impostor and fugitive. He has arms, but keeps them tightly bound to his torso, a secret known only to his friend Cojo, a midget. Alonzo's left hand has a double thumb, which would identify him as the perpetrator of various crimes.
The Circus
The Circus (1928)
, 1h10
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance
Themes Circus films
Actors Al Ernest Garcia, Charlie Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, George Davis, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford

At a circus midway, the penniless and hungry Tramp (Chaplin) is mistaken for a condemnable pickpocket and chased by both the police and the real crook (the latter having stashed a stolen wallet and watch in the Tramp's pocket to avoid detection). Running away, the Tramp stumbles into the middle of a performance and unknowingly becomes the hit of the show.
The Shadow
The Shadow (1937)
, 59minutes
Directed by Charles C. Coleman
Origin USA
Genres Crime
Themes Circus films
Actors Rita Hayworth, Charles Quigley, Marc Lawrence, Arthur Loft, Marjorie Main, Dwight Frye

Mary Gillespie restaure le cirque du colonel Gillespie à sa splendeur d'antan après la mort de son père. Avec l'aide de son petit ami publiciste Jim, les foules à guichets fermés retournent au chapiteau. La star équestre égocentrique Senor Martinet détient cependant 60 000 $ de billets signés par le colonel et attendus dans 24 heures. Quand une mystérieuse silhouette ténébreuse est vue sur le terrain du cirque, et que Martinet est assassiné dans le ring du centre pendant sa performance, il y a de nombreux suspects, dont Vindecco, l'assistant bossu maltraité de Martinet.
Merbabies
Merbabies (1938)
, 8minutes
Directed by Wilfred Jackson, Rudolf Ising, Vernon Stallings
Origin USA
Genres Fantasy, Animation
Themes Circus films, Films about magic and magicians, Seafaring films, Transport films, Mermaids in film, Musical films, Children's films
Actors Pinto Colvig, George Magrill, Marcellite Garner

Les bulles et les algues à la surface de l'océan donnent naissance à des bébés d'eau, de petites sirènes. Elles jouent à la surface jusqu'à ce qu'elles entendent passer une fanfare, annonçant l'arrivée d'un cirque composé d'animaux marins. Le cirque comprend entre autres des clowns et un escargot-girafe.
Rain or Shine
Rain or Shine (1930)
, 1h30
Directed by Frank Capra
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Circus films, Théâtre, Films based on plays
Actors Louise Fazenda, William Collier Jr., Alan Roscoe, Clarence Muse, Nella Walker, Edward Martindel

A woman inherits her father's struggling travelling circus, and looks to the circus's manager, Smiley, to save the day when the performers conspire to strike during a performance.
The Chimp
The Chimp (1932)
, 25minutes
Directed by James Gibbons Parrott
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films about animals, Circus films, Films about lions, Films about apes, Buddy films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Billy Gilbert, James Finlayson, Bobby Burns, Jack Hill

The comedy duo are working at the circus. They first appear in the Pantomime horse and then as assistants to Destructo, a strongman. The circus goes bankrupt after the Big Top is destroyed when Laurel and Hardy cause Destructo's cannonball-catching act to go wrong. The circus can't pay them their wages so Oliver is given a gorilla called Ethel and Stanley a Flea Circus as a pay off. Despite the film's title Ethel isn't a chimpanzee. She is dressed in a ballet tutu and hat. Stanley and Oliver need to find a room to stay in overnight and they go to a guest house. The landlord gives them a room but refuses to let Ethel stay. A lion named MGM after the MGM lion has escaped from the circus. Stanley and Oliver try to smuggle Ethel into their room whilst avoiding MGM. They decide to leave Ethel outside for the night and go to bed. They sleep in the same bed as in all Laurel and Hardy films. Stanley falls out of bed and decides to sleep in the spare bed. Ethel climbs in through the window and gets into bed with Oliver. Ethel steals the blanket from Oliver so he decides to use the spare bed as well as Stanley. They both begin to itch and find that the flea circus has escaped into the bed. Another guest at the house puts some music on and Ethel begins to dance. The landlord has a wife called Ethel and when Oliver tells the gorilla to stop dancing the landlord thinks his wife is in the room with Stanley and Oliver. The landlord confronts Stanley and Oliver with a pistol. At the end the gorilla gets hold of the pistol and begins to shoot, scaring everyone out of the room.
Chad Hanna
Chad Hanna (1940)
, 1h26
Directed by Henry King
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Historical, Romance
Themes Circus films, Children's films
Actors Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Linda Darnell, Guy Kibbee, Jane Darwell, John Carradine

In the 1840s Chad Hanna (Henry Fonda), a New York country boy working along the canal in Canastota, New York, joins a travelling Huguenine circus. He falls in love with beautiful bareback rider Albany Yates (Dorothy Lamour), but she spurns him. Chad Hanna then finds himself attracted to another runaway, country girl Caroline Tridd Hanna (Linda Darnell). Though everybody assumes that the boy is slow on the uptake, Chad Hanna manages to save the circus from financial ruin.
Twisted Mistress
Twisted Mistress (1942)
, 1h25
Directed by André Cayatte
Origin France
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama
Themes Circus films
Actors Danielle Darrieux, Lise Delamare, Monique Joyce, Huguette Vivier, Gabrielle Fontan, Bernard Lancret

Lilian Rander, la jolie écuyère du cirque qui vient de s'installer en ville, tourne aisément la tête des hommes. Pour un soir, elle accepte de faire croire qu'elle est amoureuse de René, un rugbyman. Celui-ci veut détourner les soupçons de Guy, son meilleur ami, qui pense, avec raison, que René est l'amant de sa femme, Hélène. Mais une sombre histoire d'impôts contraint le cirque à rester huit jours de plus dans la ville. René et Lilian se fâchent et Guy se charge de les réconcilier. Hélène soupçonne maintenant son mari d'être l'amant de l'écuyère…
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)
, 1h29
Directed by Lewis Milestone, Preston Sturges
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Circus films
Actors Harold Lloyd, Jimmy Conlin, Rudy Vallée, Pat O'Brien, Raymond Walburn, Edgar Kennedy

In 1945, twenty-three years after scoring the winning touchdown for his college football team (as told in The Freshman), mild-mannered Harold Diddlebock (Harold Lloyd), who has been stuck in a dull, dead-end book-keeping job for years, is let go by his pompous boss, advertising tycoon J.E. Waggleberry (Raymond Walburn), with nothing but a tiny pension of $1,000. He bids farewell to the girl at the desk down the aisle, Miss Otis (Frances Ramsden), whom he had hoped to marry – just as he had hoped to marry five of her older sisters before that – and wanders aimlessly through the streets, his life's savings in hand.