Five Men in a Circus

The Blue Angel

April 1930 •German

Prim professor Immanuel Rath finds some of his students ogling racy photos of cabaret performer Lola Lola and visits a local club, The Blue Angel, in an attempt to catch them there. Seeing Lola perform, the teacher is filled with lust, eventually resigning his position at the school to marry the young woman. However, his marriage to a coquette -- whose job is to entice men -- proves to be more difficult than Rath imagined.

Two Brothers

April 2004 •English

Two tigers are separated as cubs and taken into captivity, only to be reunited years later as enemies by an explorer (Pearce) who inadvertently forces them to fight each other.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

February 2002 •English

Now that Frollo is gone, Quasimodo rings the bell with the help of his new friend and Esmeralda's and Phoebus' little son, Zephyr. But when Quasi stops by a traveling circus owned by evil magician Sarousch, he falls for Madellaine, Sarouch's assistant.

Boot Hill

December 1969 •Italian

Victims of oppressive town boss Honey are offered help by an unusual alliance of gunmen and circus performers

Fireworks

September 1954 •German

The quiet life of an extended family is shaken up when a circus comes into town.

Travelling Circus

February 1988 •Vietnamese

A small traveling circus from Hanoi arrives at a village struck down by famine, trying to sell magic and dreams.

Variácie slávy

January 1991 •Slovak

The Greatest Show on Earth

February 1952 •English

To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.

Behind the Sun

December 2001 •Portuguese

Brazilian badlands, April 1910. Tonho is ordered by his father to avenge the death of his older brother. The young man knows that if he commits this crime, his life will be divided in two: the twenty years he has already lived and the few days he has left to live, before the other family avenges their son's death. He is torn between fulfilling his ancestral duty and rebelling against it, urged by his younger brother Pacu. That's when a tiny travelling circus passes through the vast badlands where Tonho's family lives.

Big Top Pee-wee

July 1988 •English

Paul Reubens stars as Pee-wee Herman in his second full-length film about a farmer who joins the circus after a storm drops a big tent in his front yard. Pee-wee, along with an outlandish cast of animals and circus performers, puts on the best show ever.

A Prohibition Monkey

September 1920 •English

The town of Beer Bottle Bend is so tough that the babies chew tobacco. It is run in a high, wide, and handsome manner by the owner of Riley's Saloon. There is a little church in the town built in haste many years ago but it has been securely boarded up for years. Mr. Riley intended it to remain so for his Sunday business was booming. A traveling evangelist who learned his profession as a circus performer arrives in the town with Charles Bullephant, a peevish elephant; Joe Martin, a highly-cultured orang-outang; and Buster, a famous trained horse. With help from his friends, he sets out to make Beer Bottle Bend a church-going community.

Balloon Animal

March 2022 •English

Poppy Valentine, a young circus performer who has grown up in her family's traveling circus, has never dreamed of what life would be like outside of its fences. However, now in her mid-20s and with more unwelcomed responsibility weighing her down, she's desperate to figure out if this life is for her.

Werckmeister Harmonies

February 2001 •Hungarian

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

The Last Attraction

September 1929 •Russian

A travelling circus troupe during the Civil War. A kommissar tries to transfer the wagon into an agit-prop van. The Whites conquer the town. The kommissar hides among the artists.

Floating Weeds

November 1959 •Japanese

When a theater troupe's master visits his old flame, he unintentionally sets off a chain of unexpected events with devastating consequences. A remake of Ozu's own silent film The Story of Floating Weeds (1934).

Laugh, Clown, Laugh

April 1928 •English

A despairing clown suffering a broken heart and a self-indulgent count who uncontrollably laughs learn to help each other with their problems, but both fall in love with the same young woman.

Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu

February 1958 •Malayalam

Chandran, a circus performer, and Thankam are in love. The circus team borrows some money from Thankam's father, Paithal Nair. When they are unable to repay, Paithal Nair takes away their animals.

The Village

April 1976 •Japanese

This appears to be a labor of love. Its about a village which is given the opportunity to put on a musical. They would have to pay the overhead and, being that they are farmers and always busy and not rich, question the wisdom and feasibility of such an idea. A spokesperson for the acting troupe Ms. Kono lays out the whole thing and they must decide. You get little slices of rural life in Japan far, at least in sentiment, from Tokyo. The best thing about this film is that it has heart. The acting is good, but it is really about the simple storyline of outing on a show. Films rarely get made with such simplistic plots these days. Enjoy this little slice of what city people call “the simple life”.

Smalltown Boys

November 2022 •French

A young man seems to be dreaming of a reality different from the business he is about to take over and the married life that goes with it; he is drawn to the spicy life of a queer vaudeville troupe performing in his village.

The Ballad of the Indispensable Walnut Man

May 2023 •English

In late 19th century Scotland the Walnut man, a performer in a travelling circus, has become frustrated with his tired act. Instead he wants to perform his poems and songs to the crowds. What follows is a dark tale about entertainment, violence and greed. All made in Stop Motion animation