This one ends bleakly -- or just poignantly -- insisting that we reevaluate the relationship between the tramp and the trick rider. Was the ending a result of the problems that Chaplin had in making the film, or a product of his personal problems, or the inevitable ending prefigured from the tramp's first falling in love? He looks at the paper star left over from just-departed circus wagons, then waddles off as an iris close ends the film. Before that, Chaplin shows his genius (not an overused term for him!) in a beautifully timed house of mirrors sequence, a riotous destruction of a magician's disappearance-trick (Charley, hiding from the police, is already in the compartment in which the beautiful girl is supposed to materialize), and an even funnier sequence in which Charley releases rabbits, piglets, and pigeons from the magician's table. Perhaps the funniest moment is Charley's ascent to the high-wire platform -- he is being yanked up, a la Peter Pan, but pretends to be going hand over hand. The best example of superb timing is when Charley pulls a chair out for himself and replaces it just in time for the circus manager to sit down in. The film also raises the issue of spontaneity vs. meticulous rehearsal. It favors the former, but is clearly a product of the latter. This turns dark and perhaps the darkness is implicit in the persona of the tramp and the venue of the circus, but it also has some breathtaking and very funny sequences before that final third. Thanks TCM for bringing this one to the tube! It is one of the last examples of how great silent films could be.