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The Circus Comes to Town (c.1943)

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The circus parade

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

The members of Wirth’s Circus and Zoo parade down the main street as a large crowd looks on. The parade includes elephants, clowns, performers on horseback and caged animals. In another shot, Shetland ponies are led by boys over a bridge towards the showground.

Intertitles are used to describe the action.

Curator’s notes

The popularity of the travelling circus is clear in this clip with heavy crowds swarming the streets to watch members of Wirth’s Circus and Zoo – one of Australia’s famous circus troupes – parade through the city. While there are no details on the actual film as to the location of the city, the bridge shown at the end of this clip is most likely the William Jolly Bridge in Brisbane, Queensland. You can also see the tram tracks on the road as the parade passes down the main street.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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