The Greatest Show on Earth
Directed by Cecil B. De Mille
Written by Written by Fredric M. Frank, Barré Lyndon, and Theodore St. John; story by Frank, St. John, and Frank Cavett
1952/USA
Paramount Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Midway barker: That’s all, ladies and gentlemen, that’s all. Come again to the greatest show on earth. Bring the children. Bring the old folks. You can shake the sawdust off your feet, but you can’t shake it outta your heart. Come again, folks. The Greatest Show on Earth. Come again.[/box]
I will cut this movie some slack for the circus acts and Jimmy Stewart. Otherwise, I thought it was pretty dreadful.
Cecil B. Demille breaks in throughout in a voice-over narration with words of wisdom about the place of the circus in the hearts of young and old alike and the hard work of the performers.
Brad Bredon (Charleton Heston) manages the circus in question. He is all-business. Holly (Betty Hutton), the trapeze artist that loves him, says he has sawdust in his veins. Lately, the circus hasn’t been doing so well, and the owners have been talking about doing a shorter season. Brad saves the day by hiring French trapeze idol Sebastian (Cornel Wilde). The owners agree that the company can keep touring as long as it is making money.
The problem with Brad’s scheme is that Sebastian will work only in the center ring thus edging Holly out of the coveted spot. She vows that the audience will be looking only at her in the side ring during Sebastian’s act and proceeds to compete with him doing increasingly dangerous stunts. Sebastian doesn’t seem to mind the competition much since he wants Holly as the latest of his many conquests. Holly does not heed the warnings of Angel (Gloria Grahame), who previously had a fling with Sebastian herself. To make the love triangle a pentangle, Angel is in love with Brad too and is loved by her insanely jealous elephant trainer boss, Klaus.
Beloved by all is Bubbles the clown (Jimmy Stewart). He has a habit of staying in make-up at all times and it becomes increasingly clear that he is carrying a guilty secret. To add to the drama, an organized crime boss (Lawrence Tierney) and his henchmen are running illegal gambling operations and con games in the side show. They are out for revenge when Brad shuts them down. With a host of real circus performers, including Emmett Kelly.
Betty Hutton should never have been allowed to do anything but comedy. She overacts horribly and makes this blockbuster even worse than it had to be. Then we get Cornell
Wilde with a cringe-worthy French accent. The story and dialogue are just a mess of cliches. And this won the Oscar in competition with High Noon and The Quiet Man?
The Greatest Show on Earth won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story. It was nominated in the categories of Best Director, Best Costume Design, Color, and Best Film Editing.
Trailer
I remember finding this quite entertaining but no masterpiece – very surprising that it got the Oscar for best film. I did like Jimmy Stewart’s performance as the haunted clown, though.
I liked Stewart too. He certainly was versatile! I enjoyed watching him clown. Betty Hutton was really annoying though (I have loved her in comedies) and the plot did nothing for me. I can count the De Mille movies I have liked on about two fingers.
Honestly, the only thing I really liked here was the train crash.
Yes, the train crash was all right. Then the actors started talking again.
I always use THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH as THE greatest example of Oscar insanity. This isn’t even a case of “you had to be there.” This Best Picture is either about studio block voting or divided votes where #3 won because HIGH NOON and THE QUIET MAN drew so many votes. Or, given that it was Cecil B. De Mille’s baby — blackmail or intimidation.
Hell, I preferred Ivanhoe to this dog.
And I, as do you, prefer THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD to a truncated, if colorful, IVANHOE.
In no way was this film,albeit the cast was even close to The Quiet Man!De Mille and his intimidation was the only reason it won that year!Stewart was the only one that showed his acting ability in this overated film….period!
It may really be the worst movie to ever when the Oscar, despite some stiff competition for that distinction. Thanks for stopping by.