Charlie Churchman and the Clowns (1968)

UNRATED • 19m • 2023 • Special

Charlie, modeled after Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, uses satire and slapstick comedy to get people into church to fellowship and learn about God and the Bible. When the circus comes to town, Charlie sets out to "get those clowns to church." When that doesn't work he discovers that both he and the chaplain need to join the clowns to get to know them better. The Charlie Churchman shorts were a highly popular Christian film series during the 1960s. The promotion blurb was "Meet our hero, Charlie Churchman. Watch this funny little fellow carefully, for his story is a modern parable. It's meaning lies beneath the slapstick surface.