The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Fredric M. Frank (story) and
Theodore St. John (story) ...

Release Date:

19 December 1952 (Sweden)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Romance

Tagline:

The Heartbeat Story of Circus People, Filmed with the Cooperation of Ringling Bros. - Barnum and Bailey Circus!

Plot:

The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer against a background of circus spectacle.

Plot Keywords:

Circus | Clown | Trapeze | Elephant | Train Wreck

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 19

11:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Betty Hutton	...	Holly
Cornel Wilde	...	The Great Sebastian
Charlton Heston	...	Brad Braden
Dorothy Lamour	...	Phyllis
Gloria Grahame	...	Angel
Henry Wilcoxon	...	FBI Agent Gregory
Lyle Bettger	...	Klaus
Lawrence Tierney	...	Mr. Henderson
Emmett Kelly	...	Himself
Cucciola	...	Himself
Antoinette Concello	...	Herself
John Ringling North	...	Himself
Tuffy Genders	...	Himself
John Kellogg	...	Harry
John Ridgely	...	Assistant manager

Also Known As:

Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G | Australia:PG (TV rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #15440) | Netherlands:12 | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:16 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U (original rating) (cut) | UK:U (video rating) (1988) (uncut) | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Cedar City, Utah, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

During the circus parade finale keyed to appropriate songs, Mickey Mouse and a group of other Disney characters walk around the ring to the tune of "It's A Hap-Hap-Happy Day" from the 1939 animated feature Gulliver's Travels (1939), which was released by Paramount, not Disney.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Brad is checking the baby gorillas after learning they may have contracted the mumps, a crowd of onlookers is gathered right behind, plainly staring at the camera filming the scene.

Quotes:

Holly: [singing] When things go wrong, and life's no song, and you're flat on your back, that doesn't mean you have to lie there: be a jumping jack!
Buttons: [singing] Keep on the hop, and if you flop, and everything looks black, stand on your head and holler "hi there!" Be a jumping jack!
Holly: When things go up, they must come down, and also visa verse. If things look bad, don't fret and frown - they could be ten times worse!
Buttons: Your train of luck, it may get stuck if something's on the track; give a good jump and you'll get by there...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Paprika (2006)

Soundtrack:

POPCORN and LEMONADE

Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde are superb in their 'flyer' roles!

I saw this film in a theatre when it first came out and, had forgotten a great deal of it, until I saw it again last evening.

Much of the film is actual footage of the REAL Barnum and Bailey Circus, setting up, tearing down and loading up for the trip to the next venue.

I had also forgotten how superb both Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde are doing a great deal of their own 'flying'! While you realize that they have a net just under the view of the camera, they both perform physically demanding stunts with the camers right in their faces! I can't stand on my head on the floor much less on a swinging trapeze!!

Wilde's front summersault from one swinging bar to another swinging bar is breathtaking!!

Some of the action is quite dated and the trainwreck is...well, DeMille's rendition of a massive trainwreck. The plot creaks a bit here and there, but the many performers do their bits with conviction.

Hutton and Wilde steal the show from Heston and Stewart. I recommend this film to Circus lovers everywhere and to people who appreaciate actors placing themselves in Harms Way to create illusions (be they VERY dangerous illusions) of the REAL thing! I give it an 8.