The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

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