Circus Saran

BBC Storyville - The Golden Age of Circus: The Show of Shows (2016)
HDTV | 960x720 | .MKV/AVC @ 3580 Kbps | 1h 13mn | Audio: English AAC 128 kbps, 2 channels | Subs: English | 1.90 GiB
Genre: Documentary

Roll up, roll up for an unforgettable experience! This film tells the story of itinerant circus performers, cabaret acts and vaudeville and fairground attractions. Rarities and never-before-seen footage of fairgrounds, circus entertainment, freak shows, variety performances, music hall and seaside entertainment are chronicled from the 19th and 20th centuries. Featuring early shows that wowed the world and home movies of some of the greatest circus families.

A look at life in the circus through the prism of the Big Apple Circus opens with “First of May,” in which the entertainers and crew map out a new show for a 350-performance tour. “One Ring Family” continues with the first dress rehearsal raising tensions. Among the featured individuals are veteran and novice clowns; a trapeze act whose association with the circus may be in free fall; and ring crew whose members all seem to be seeking a fresh start in life.

At the Circus - by Edward Buzzell (1939)

The Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job.

The Artist in the Circus Dome: Clueless / Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos - by Alexander Kluge (1968)

This film combines both black-and-white and color photography to tell the story of a circus beset with financial woes. Leni (Hannelore Hoger), the director of a circus, has just lost her father in a trapeze accident. She tries to keep the circus out of debt and vows to continue the performances under the big top. Helped by a small and unexpected inheritance, Leni has high hopes of keeping the circus operating. She must decide if her dedication to the show is realistic or merely wishful thinking. Curt Jurgens appears as the animal trainer Mackensen in this symbolic but slow-moving feature. The film took the Gold Lion award at the 1968 Venice Film Festival.

Circus tells the story of an American named Marion who is banished from the US because a black man impregnates her. Marion escapes to Russia to start a new life in the circus and joins up with lustful, anti-Russian ringmaster who happens to be in love with her. The ringmaster knows her secret about the black baby and threatens to reveal it unless she marries him. The problem is that Marion has fallen in love with a Russian acrobat and later out of sheer jealousy, the ringmaster reveals the identity of the woman's child in front of the circus audience.

BBC Time Shift - When the Circus Comes to Town (2011)
HDTV | 1280x720 | .MKV/AVC @ 2852 Kbps | 59mn 5s | Audio: English AAC 128 kbps, 2 channels | Subs: English | 1.25 GiB
Genre: Documentary

Roll up! Roll up! Join Timeshift under the big top for unique access to the University of Sheffield's National Fairground Archive which tells the story of the circus. From Billy Smart to Gerry Cottle and Archaos to Cirque du Soleil, the documentary captures the appeal of this enduring mass entertainment. Find out what a josser is, discover why clowns are one of the few acts to achieve lasting celebrity and marvel at the sheer spectacle of some of the biggest circuses of all time. In an age when almost every form of popular entertainment owes something to the circus, this is a nostalgic journey into the origins of one of the ultimate expressions of human athleticism and showmanship.