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Movies that feel like The Circus (1928)

If you loved The Circus, the closest films we have are City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936) and The Gold Rush (1925). All three share The Circus' witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 9 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel and others, checked against today's data.

Charlie, a wandering tramp, becomes a circus handyman - soon the star of the show - and falls in love with the circus owner's stepdaughter.

πŸ… 97% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 8.1 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Charlie Chaplinwittyplayfulcontemplativeromantictender
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If The Circus hit the spot, these will too

City Lights poster
City Lights
1931 Β· dir. Charlie Chaplin
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.5comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Both are Charlie Chaplin's work, and they rhyme

A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

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Modern Times poster
Modern Times
1936 Β· dir. Charlie Chaplin
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.5comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Charlie Chaplin directing both, with the same fingerprints on each

A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time...

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The Gold Rush poster
The Gold Rush
1925 Β· dir. Charlie Chaplin
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.1adventure Β· comedy Β· drama

Two things both keep coming back to: black and white and silent film

The difference: Missing the tenderness of The Circus

A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.

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Limelight poster
Limelight
1952 Β· dir. Charlie Chaplin
πŸ… 88%β˜… 8romance Β· drama Β· music

The same preoccupation in both: black and white

The difference: Sits closer to music than The Circus does

A fading music hall comedian tries to help a despondent ballet dancer learn to walk and to again feel confident about life.

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Steamboat Bill, Jr. poster
Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1928 Β· dir. Charles Reisner
πŸ… 96%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· romance

One thread runs through both: silent film

The difference: None of the stillness The Circus is built on

The just-out-of-college, effete son of a no-nonsense steamboat captain comes to visit his father whom he's not seen since he was a child.

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The Cameraman poster
The Cameraman
1928 Β· dir. Edward Sedgwick
πŸ… 100%β˜… 8comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Witty and playful in the same breath

A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.

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Safety Last! poster
Safety Last!
1923 Β· dir. Fred C. Newmeyer
πŸ… 97%β˜… 8.1comedy Β· romance Β· thriller

Both land romance and tenderness at once

The difference: Leans harder into thriller than The Circus does

When a store clerk organizes a contest to climb the outside of a tall building, circumstances force him to make the perilous climb himself.

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Seven Chances poster
Seven Chances
1925 Β· dir. Buster Keaton
πŸ… 94%β˜… 7.8comedy Β· romance

Comedy with a pulse of wit, in both cases

Struggling stockbroker Jimmie Shannon learns that, if he gets married by 7 p.m. on his 27th birthday -- which is today -- he'll inherit $7 million from an eccentric relative.

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The Shop Around the Corner poster
The Shop Around the Corner
1940 Β· dir. Ernst Lubitsch
πŸ… 99%β˜… 8comedy Β· drama Β· romance

Both lean on stillness more than on drama

Two employees at a gift shop can barely stand one another, without realising that they are falling in love through the post as each other's anonymous pen pal.

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I Know Where I'm Going! poster
I Know Where I'm Going!
1945 Β· dir. Michael Powell
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.4romance Β· drama Β· comedy

Playful romance, and it commits to that

Plucky Englishwoman Joan Webster travels to the remote islands of the Scottish Hebrides in order to marry a wealthy industrialist. Trapped by inclement weather on the Isle of Mull and unable to continue to her destination, Joan finds herself charmed by the straightforward, no-nonsense islanders around her, and becomes increasingly attracted to naval officer Torquil MacNeil, who holds a secret that may change her life forever.

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Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans poster
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
1927 Β· dir. F. W. Murnau
πŸ… 98%β˜… 8.1drama Β· romance

Contemplative drama in both cases

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

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Holiday poster
Holiday
1938 Β· dir. George Cukor
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.7comedy Β· romance Β· drama

Comedy built on romance, twice over

Johnny Case, a freethinking financier, has finally found the girl of his dreams β€” Julia Seton, the spoiled daughter of a socially prominent millionaire β€” and she's agreed to marry him. But when Johnny plans a holiday for the two to enjoy life while they are still young, his fiancΓ©e has other plans & that is for Johnny to work in her father's bank!

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The best-reviewed films that share The Circus’ defining feeling.