Charlie Chaplin (1951)

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"The Circus" 213 his watch and chain adorning Charlie. At the same time the crook gets away and Charlie and he are chased by two policemen down the midway, Charlie politely tipping his hat to his fellow-fugitive, running beside him. Escaping into the "Mirror Maze" in the fun house, Charlie runs into himself and starts a series of comical collisions as he tries to pick up his hat, etc. The hilarity of this scene redoubles when the crook enters to demand the money and the mirror images multiply. Charlie finally eludes the crook only to encounter the cop; and the chase takes a faster tempo over turntables and other carnival paraphernalia — with one mirthful pause as Charlie freezes into a wooden statue among other figures on a Noah's Ark, as the cop dashes past. The chase takes Charlie under the big tent itself, and the audience, mistaking it for one of the acts, gives him a big hand. From then on Charlie plays an unintended stellar role. In the magician's box he emerges in the place of the truly "Vanishing Lady." By the time the cop arrives to nab Charlie, next exposed under the black cloth, the Vanishing Lady reappears in his stead while Charlie slips nimbly out of the box to get another big hand from the audience. Outside he bumps into crook and cop and Charlie is glad to surrender the money and take a needed rest in a chariot. Back under the circus tent, the audience boos the regular clowns and clamors for the new "funny man." The owner hunts Charlie, yanks him out of his nap, and offers him a tryout in the morning. Early next morning we find Charlie cooking in a tin can over an open fire. With a spoon fished out of one pocket, he dips sugar from another vest pocket and samples the brew. An important-looking hen happens along. Charlie follows her and returns with an egg. Merna, the supperless bareback rider, steps out of her wagon and, as Charlie goes for wood, she picks up a piece of bread near the fire, which she eats greedily. Charlie berates