Circus

As far as comedy from the 30's goes, Grigory Alexandrov's Circus seems pretty standard, which is actually kind of interesting given its status as a Socialist Realist film. Most of the film seems to lack the ideal Soviet imagery that consumed Chapaev, until the end which in a way seems tacked on to appease the Soviet film committees. The comedy of Circus seems pretty universal (until the last ten minutes of the film) which is strange because there does not appear to be clear propagandist content (again, until the end). One would have expected the film to be funny, so as to appeal to audiences, but not so whimsical that it leaves out the Socialist ideology that was required of Soviet films at the time. Until the end of the film this is the case.
Now to the last ten minutes. What the film initially lacks in Soviet imagery it more than makes up for the thick Propaganda of the last ten minutes, in which Von Kneishitz outs Mary as having a biracial child, claiming that neither she nor her child are fit for "civilized society". The comes the Russian audience's protection of the child, Martinov's unhindered love for Mary, and of course a parade celebrating the racial acceptance of the Soviet Union (which makes perfect sense). The message is obvious, in fact it is painfully so, the Soviet Union does not suffer from the debilitating racial issues that either Germany or even America did. This is in a sense ironic because where we can see huge strides from the Soviets in social equality in terms of race and even gender if we look back to Vertov, but Circus was released in the midst of Stalin's midnight van visits and forced vacations to Siberia. All in all the film is a delightful little comedy, not cutting edge, but amusing and cute with a strong Soviet message tacked to the end.