The Circus Kid (1928)
Though conceived and executed as a silent film, The Circus Kid was outfitted with a sound prolog and music and sound-effects track so it could pass muster as a talkie. Pint-sized Frankie Darro, no mean acrobat in real life, stars as a preteen circus performer. Darro becomes an unwilling sidelines observer of a romantic triangle involving equestrienne Helene Costello, lion-tamer Joe E. Brown (in a rare dramatic performance) and circus newcomer Sam Nelson. The climax finds Brown being mauled to death by his own lions (a sequence that sparked Brown's first real-life heart attack-though not because of the lions, who were relatively benign). One critic summed up The Circus Kid with a terse "You can sleep through it." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Helene Costello, Joe E. Brown, (more)
- Director(s):
- George B. Seitz
Synopsis of The Circus Kid
Though conceived and executed as a silent film, The Circus Kid was outfitted with a sound prolog and music and sound-effects track so it could pass muster as a talkie. Pint-sized Frankie Darro, no mean acrobat in real life, stars as a preteen circus performer. Darro becomes an unwilling sidelines observer of a romantic triangle involving equestrienne Helene Costello, lion-tamer Joe E. Brown (in a rare dramatic performance) and circus newcomer Sam Nelson. The climax finds Brown being mauled to death by his own lions (a sequence that sparked Brown's first real-life heart attack-though not because of the lions, who were relatively benign). One critic summed up The Circus Kid with a terse "You can sleep through it." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Complete Cast of The Circus Kid
- Helene Costello - Trixie
- Frankie Darro - Buddy
- Syd Crossley - Skelly's Runner
- John Gough - Skelly Crosley
- Sam Nelson - Tad
- Clarence Moorehouse
- Joe E. Brown - King Kruger
- Lionel Belmore - Beezicks
- Charles Gemora - Zozo
- Poodles Hanneford - Poodles
- Frank Hemphill - Officer
- Charles Miller - Cadwallader
- Director(s):
- George B. Seitz
- Writer(s):
- Randolph Bartlett, Melville Baker
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