Den flyvende cirkus

If you've seen one sensational circus film of the Danish silent era, you've seen them all, it would appear. This, "The Flying Circus", is only the second one I've seen, but it's nearly identical to the other, which is "The Great Circus Catastrophe" (Dødsspring til hest fra cirkuskuplen) released the same year. I've also seen the sequel to "The Flying Circus", "The Bear Tamer" (Bjørnetæmmeren), which I suppose would also be considered of the circus genre, but it's not really worth seeing even if you haven't seen a circus film (and apparently not many have; as of posting this comment, it's not even on this website yet). Alfred Lind helped to inaugurate the circus film in 1911 with "The Four Devils" (De fire djævle), which apparently hardly anyone has seen, either.

For the first ten or so minutes of "The Flying Circus", it is rather slow going, with the setting up of the circus in the city and the introduction of the characters, although setting up a story is rather neglected. As with "The Great Circus Catastrophe", of what story there is serves to loosely connect sensational episodes, such as rescuing a damsel in distress from a burning building (included in both movies). The main dilemma in both films is the protagonist's decision between a good and a bad woman, with all the jealousy and danger that ensues. In "The Flying Circus", there's more classism involved. At least, there are few intertitles and it's rather short. As well, it's interesting to see what passed for popular entertainment in the motion-picture industry then.