> Chaplin was not the only film comedian who found the setting of a carnival or circus an ideal place to inspire hilarious gags and comical situations.

> The Circus Clown (1934) features Joe E. Brown in a dual role as Chuckles Howard, a former circus clown, and his son Happy, who has been forbidden to have any contact with that lifestyle. When the circus comes to his town, Happy sees an opportunity to join the troupe with his tumbling act but his plans don't exactly go smoothly. > W.C. Fields is the star of Poppy (1936), a remake of the earlier D.W. Griffith silent film, Sally of the Sawdust (1925). As circus performer Professor Eustace McGargle, Fields tries to pass his daughter Poppy off as royalty to the mayor's interested young son while promoting gambling at his circus as well as promoting a phony cure-all tonic known as "Purple Frog Sarsaparilla."

> The Marx Brothers appeared in At the Circus (1939). It was their ninth film and followed them through a series of wild shenanigans as they tried to retrieve some stolen money and save a financially strapped circus owned by Kenny Baker, a popular singing star of his day. Among the supporting players are Nat Pendleton, Eve Arden, Florence Rice and of course the perennial, good-natured target of Groucho's quips - Margaret Dumont. One of the highlights is Groucho performing the unforgettable "Lydia the Tattooed Lady."

> 3 Ring Circus (1954) features Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis as two discharged soldiers who end up joining a circus; Martin becomes the assistant to trapeze artist Zsa Zsa Gabor while Lewis gets a job as a lion tamer's assistant with predictably disastrous results. Highlights include the duo's performance of the Jay Livingston-Ray Evans tune, "Hey Punchinello," and Lewis's encounter with a bearded lady played by Elsa Lanchester.

> One of Danny Kaye's more entertaining comedies, Merry Andrew (1958) finds the actor playing a teacher who travels to Italy on an archaeological expedition but finds his true calling as a circus performer after he falls in love with beautiful acrobat Pier Angeli.

> In Big Top Pee-Wee (1988), a sequel to the box office hit Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985), the title character (Paul Reubens) is a whimsical rural farmer who realizes his wildest dreams when a storm blows a circus into his town, complete with a ringmaster (Kris Kristofferson), his miniature wife (Susan Tyrrell) and a beautiful acrobat (Valeria Golino).