The Circus Clown

This Joe E. Brown film is a pleasant one but if you are expecting comedy, there really aren't many laughs. Instead, Brown plays it much more for pathos and it's a film that is much more about characters than laughs.

When the film begins, you see that Happy Howard (Brown) is eager to go off to work at the circus but his father (also played by Brown) discourages him, as he was once a circus performer but has bitter memories about it. Despite his dad's advice, Happy joins the Bingham Brothers Circus and mostly does odd jobs...all the while working on a circus act on his own. Unfortunately, late in the film after Happy makes good with his act, he also makes a STUPID decision to help Frank, the alcoholic clown...and ends up getting thrown out of the circus. Can he possibly return and make good?

Brown was nice here...less brash and obnoxious than he could be (such as in "Alibi Ike")...so the fact that the laughs are few and far between doesn't seem to matter too much. Not a great film but an enjoyable and pleasant one.