Highest-Rated Movies about 'Circus', Sort by Popularity

Circo (2010), The Circus (1928), Salaam Bombay! (1988), Freaks (1932), He Who Gets Slapped (1924), The Greatest Showman (2017), The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), Dumbo (1941) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Circus movies.

#1. Circo (2010)

Storyline: Throughout the world, the circus is an old-fashioned form of entertainment that's slowly fading away, and in Mexico, the situation is no different. The Ponces, captained by lead manager and ringmaster Tino, struggle to bring in the crowds and keep their generations-old family business going strong. Compounding this challenge is a weakened economy, particularly in the rural areas where the Ponces pitch their big tent. The soundtrack is enlivened by the music of country-rock band Calexico.

Plot Keywords: ringmaster, acrobat, circus performer, fascinating, gritty, emotional, offbeat ...

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#2. The Circus (1928)

Storyline: The Tramp finds himself at a circus where he is promptly chased around by the police who think he is a pickpocket. Running into the Bigtop, he is an accidental sensation with his hilarious efforts to elude the police. The circus owner immediately hires him, but discovers that the Tramp cannot be funny on purpose, so he takes advantage of the situation by making the Tramp a janitor who just happens to always be in the Bigtop at showtime. Unaware of this exploitation, the Tramp falls for the owner's lovely acrobatic stepdaughter, who is abused by her father. His chances seem good, until a dashing rival comes in and Charlie feels he has to compete with him.

Plot Keywords: tramp, beautiful woman, ringmaster, acrobat, police officer, magician, playful ...

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#3. Salaam Bombay! (1988)

Storyline: Young Krishna's mother abandons him at the Apollo Circus and informs him that he can only return home when he can afford 500 rupees to pay for his brother's bicycle that he destroyed. The circus then leaves Krishna behind and he takes a train to Bombay, where he works delivering tee for Chacha's street bar and being called "Chaipau" by the local street children. He befriends heroin addict and drug dealer Chillum, and young Manju Golub, the daughter of Baba Golub and prostitute Rekha Golub. Krishna dreams of saving 500 rupees to return home, but Bombay street life isn't easy.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords: young boy, mother, brother, drug dealer, prostitute, friend, dark ...

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#4. Freaks (1932)

Storyline: A circus trapeze artist, Cleopatra, takes an interest in Hans, a midget who works in the circus sideshow. Her interest however is in the money Hans will be inheriting and she is actually carrying on an affair with another circus performer, Hercules. Hans's fiancée does her best to convince him that he is being used but to no avail. At their wedding party, a drunken Cleopatra tells the sideshow freaks just what she thinks of them. Together, the freaks decide to make her one of their own.

Plot Keywords: trapeze artist, circus performer, conjoined twins, dwarf, strong man, creepy, disturbing ...

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#5. He Who Gets Slapped (1924)

Storyline: Story of an inventor who, suffering betrayal in life, makes a career of it by becoming a clown whose act consists of getting slapped by all the other clowns. He falls in love with another circus performer, and those who betrayed him enter his life yet again.—Robert Tonsing <rtonsing@ti.com>

Plot Keywords: clown, circus performer, partner, baron, wife, brooding, emotional ...

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#6. The Greatest Showman (2017)

Storyline: Orphaned, penniless but ambitious and with a mind crammed with imagination and fresh ideas, the American Phineas Taylor Barnum will always be remembered as the man with the gift to effortlessly blur the line between reality and fiction. Thirsty for innovation and hungry for success, the son of a tailor will manage to open a wax museum but will soon shift focus to the unique and peculiar, introducing extraordinary, never-seen-before live acts on the circus stage. Some will call Barnum's wide collection of oddities, a freak show; however, when the obsessed showman gambles everything on the opera singer Jenny Lind to appeal to a high-brow audience, he will somehow lose sight of the most important aspect of his life: his family. Will Barnum risk it all to be accepted?

Plot Keywords: showman, circus owner, circus performer, acrobat, performer, trapeze artist, dreamy ...

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#7. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

Storyline: Scott Carey and his wife Louise are sunning themselves on their cabin cruiser, the small craft adrift on a calm sea. While his wife is below deck, a low mist passes over him. Scott, lying in the sun, is sprinkled with glittery particles that quickly evaporate. Later he is accidentally sprayed with an insecticide while driving and, in the next few days, he finds that he has begun to shrink. First just a few inches, so that his clothes no longer fit, then a little more. Soon he is only three feet tall, and a national curiosity. At six inches tall he can only live in a doll's house and even that becomes impossible when his cat breaks in. Scott flees to the cellar, his wife thinks he has been eaten by the cat and the door to the cellar is closed, trapping him in the littered room where, menaced by a giant spider, he struggles to survive.

Plot Keywords: husband, wife, doctor, dwarf, spider, cat, fascinating ...

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#8. Dumbo (1941)

Storyline: The stork delivers a baby elephant to Mrs. Jumbo, veteran of the circus, but the newborn is ridiculed because of his truly enormous ears and dubbed "Dumbo". After being separated from his mother, Dumbo is relegated to the circus' clown acts; it is up to his only friend, a mouse, to assist Dumbo to achieve his full potential.

Plot Keywords: elephant, mouse, clown, crow, charming, emotional, inspiring ...

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#10. The Mercenary (1968)

Storyline: While a Mexican revolutionary lies low as a U.S. rodeo clown, the cynical Polish mercenary who tutored the idealistic peasant tells how he and a dedicated female radical fought for the soul of the guerrilla general Paco, as Mexicans threw off repressive government and all-powerful landowners in the 1910s. Tracked by the vengeful Curly, Paco liberates villages, but is tempted by social banditry's treasures, which Kowalski revels in.—David Stevens

Plot Keywords: gunman, revolutionary, owner, mercenary, prisoner, soldier, thrilling ...

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#11. Two Brothers (2004)

Storyline: 1920s Indochina. In the wild, a pair of adult tigers have just had a litter of two male cubs. It is a loving family unit, with the two brothers having a bond through their adventurous spirit. In different incidents, the cubs are captured individually, and although both in captivity live very different lives. Their individual captures were directly or indirectly associated with the work of Aidan McRory, a treasure and big game hunter, whose main goal is to make as much money for himself by selling his largely illegally obtained artifacts and animal parts at auction in Europe. Through the process, he has an emotional connection with one of the cubs, who is eventually named Kumal, but of who he eventually loses track. The cubs' lives are affected negatively by a number of other people who are working solely toward their own end goals, but the other cub, who is eventually named Sangha, also makes an emotional human connection to a young boy named Raoul Normandin, the son of the area ...

Plot Keywords: tiger, brother, hunter, prince, animal trainer, young boy, incredible ...

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#12. Man on a Tightrope (1953)

Storyline: In 1950s Czechoslovakia circus manager Karel Cernik is planning an escape from Communism to freedom.His idea is to force his way across the guarded border using his entire circus.Three years in the making his idea is ready to be tested when he's suddenly summoned to a Secret Police routine questioning about his circus' program.To Cernik it's clear that he has an informer among his staff who reports his activities and private talks to the Secret Police. The Americans are just across the river in a nearby border village but Cernik needs a special permit from the Secret Police allowing his circus freedom of movement in the border areas to perform his shows.This hard to get permit is vital to his escape plan.To make matters worse his wife is being unfaithful, his daughter has fallen in love with the new stables boy,his circus is falling apart and his longtime rival, Barovik, wants to take over Cernik's circus.—nufs68

Plot Keywords: circus performer, businessperson, wife, communist, emotional, engaging, melodramatic ...

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#14. The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1968)

Storyline: The commander of a failed 1928 Arctic airship expedition is remembering the events of the "Italia" airship flight, crash, and subsequent rescue efforts. The "ghosts" of people involved in the events appear in his memories to assist him in determining his guilt in the affair. The reminiscences are mixed with the real action: the flight of the "Italia", the air rescue operation from Kings Bay airfield, the expedition of the "Krassin" ice-breaker. A sort of human touch is added by the ever beautiful C.C. playing Malmgren's girlfriend.—E. Kocourek <e_kocourek@yahoo.com>

Plot Keywords: mick jagger, john lennon, eric clapton, yoko ono, musician, outlandish, cheeky ...

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