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At the Circus

At the Circus

Comedy · Music · 1939

Jeff Wilson, the owner of a small circus, owes his partner Carter $10,000. Before Jeff can pay, Carter's accomplices steal the money so he can take over the circus. Antonio Pirelli and Punchy, who work at the circus, together with lawyer Loophole try to find the thief and get the money back.

Movie details

At the Circus

“Keep the world laughing!”

1939 Comedy · Music 1h 27m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.8 / 10

6.6K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

91 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Jeff Wilson, the owner of a small circus, owes his partner Carter $10,000. Before Jeff can pay, Carter's accomplices steal the money so he can take over the circus. Antonio Pirelli and Punchy, who work at the circus, together with lawyer Loophole try to find the thief and get the money back.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over At the Circus?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Edward Buzzell

Written by

Irving Brecher

Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx

Attorney J. Cheever Loophole

Chico Marx

Chico Marx

Antonio Pirelli

Harpo Marx

Harpo Marx

'Punchy'

Kenny Baker

Kenny Baker

Jeff Wilson

Florence Rice

Florence Rice

Julie Randall

Eve Arden

Eve Arden

Peerless Pauline

Margaret Dumont

Margaret Dumont

Mrs. Suzanna Dukesbury

Court is in session

Put At the Circus on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.