Circus

Robert Bros Circus and Zoo set up the circus tents and perform a show.

This film, which is mainly black and white but includes a colour sequence, shows the Robert Bros Hip Hip Zoo Ray Mammoth Circus and Menagerie, starting with a shot of a circus tent and vans in a field. Two chimpanzees are led by a man and a woman. They play and fight with each other, and one chimp sits on the woman’s back as if on a horse. There is a shot of people feeding and tending horses. After a pause, the next section of film is in colour. A child looks up at the circus posters on a hoarding next to a large poster for the Maldon cinema. Men unload equipment from lorries, including wooden poles to construct the circus tents. Children gather around the circus entrance. Circus children unload performance equipment and perform tricks. There is a shot of a pony then two chimpanzees in costume. A boy plays with a poodle tied to the tent. There are then shots of a kangaroo, a black bear, and a lion in a cage. The colourful van for 'Robert Bros polar bears and black bears'. A boy dressed as a clown hits an elephant with a stick and climbs on its back. A man looks out from a caravan door. We see a man dressed as a clown, then children stand in a line to be filmed. The film continues in black and white. There are shots of a zebra, two baboons on leads fighting one another, men and women constructing the big tent and assembling the attractions, lions in a cage, a llama and elephants. A van delivers crates of drinks. More scenes of the baboons, and the llama and a pony being fed and groomed. Performers gather, including a clown dressed as a woman with long plaits. The kangaroo, the boy dressed as a clown and other performers, dogs on leads, the chimps in outfits practising their routines. Two acrobats perform a lift, the bears are led around in chains, and one is made to walk on its hind legs. A man lies down with the baboons as they fight and pull at his hair and eyebrows. He shows off a tiny marmoset, and people handle the other monkeys. The last section of film titled ‘The Circus’ shows the main performance in front of an audience with the performers in full costume. Elephants are led out of one tent and into another. In the ring, a chimp balances on horizontal and vertical poles; acrobats perform somersaults including a woman balancing on ballet pointes. A black bear is made to stand on a rolling barrel, walk along a thin plank, then ride on a bicycle pushed by another bear, led by men wearing colonial-type costumes with pith helmets and gun holsters. Trapeze artists perform above the ring, including a comedy routine with a parachute. A white horse nudges a man around the ring. A clown balances an object on a long pole, then reveals it was attached all along. The bear acts again, and then the elephants are made to climb on each other and are whipped to make them dance and revolve on raised platforms. The horses, small pony and the llama are seen circling the ring, again with their movements directed by the whip. The poodle on its hind legs performs a routine about opening a gate. Clowns fight with the kangaroo in a boxing ring attended by women. The horses bow and the chimp is seen again balancing with a parasol. The white horse and llama both bow, and the clown and kangaroo act is seen again. Close-up of the clowns and the audience enjoying their balancing act. More of the bears, and trapeze artists performing a spin. The white horse again, then the elephants spinning and sitting on their haunches. Circus staff move equipment into the ring. The film ends with scenes of the lion act performed in a cage as they are made to sit, balance, jump, circle the ring and react aggressively to the jodhpur-wearing trainer on command.

Keywords

Circuses; Animals; Cross dressing

Background Information

The entrance sign declares Robert Bros Mammoth Circus and Zoo the Greatest Circus Touring Britain.