The Greatest Show on Earth (film)
The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille,[2] shot in Technicolor and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring and Charlton Heston as the circus manager. James Stewart also stars as a mysterious clown who never removes his makeup, and Dorothy Lamour and Gloria Grahame also play supporting roles.
The Greatest Show on Earth
- Fredric M. Frank
- Theodore St. John
- Frank Cavett
Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil B. DeMille
- January 10, 1952 (New York City, premiere)
152 minutes
United States
English
$4 million[1]
$36 million[1]
In addition to the actors, the real Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Circus' 1951 troupe appears in the film with its complement of 1,400 people, hundreds of animals and 60 railroad cars of equipment and tents. The actors learned their circus roles and participated in the acts. The film's storyline is supported by lavish production values, actual circus acts and documentary-style views into the complex logistics behind big-top circuses.
The film won two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Story, and was nominated for Best Costume Design, Best Director and Best Film Editing. It also won Golden Globe Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Director and Best Motion Picture – Drama.
Plot[edit]
Brad Braden is the no-nonsense general manager of the world's largest railroad circus. The show's board of directors plans to run a short 10-week season rather than risk losing money in a shaky postwar economy. Brad bargains to keep the circus on the road as long as it makes a profit, thus keeping the 1,400 performers and roustabouts employed.
Brad reluctantly tells Holly, his aerialist girlfriend, that she will no longer be the star. He has been forced to hire world-famous aerialist (and notorious ladies man) "The Great Sebastian" as the star and main attraction of that year's show. Holly is heartbroken and claims that Brad has no feelings. Trouble is also brewing for beloved Buttons the Clown, who never appears without his makeup and seems to possess medical knowledge. Holly finds a newspaper article about a mercy killer, but does not immediately connect the doctor who killed his wife to Buttons.
Sebastian arrives and is coldly greeted by two former lovers: Angel, who performs in the elephant act with the pathologically jealous Klaus, and Phyllis, who has a dual role as an iron jaw artist and a singer in one of the musical numbers. Sebastian is attracted to Holly, and offers her the center ring. When Brad refuses, Holly vows to make her ring the focus of attention.
Buttons' mother attends a performance, warning him the police are on his trail. Meanwhile, the competition between the two aerialists becomes increasingly dangerous; the duel ends when Sebastian removes his safety net, then suffers a serious fall when a stunt goes wrong. Buttons tends to him before the ambulance comes, impressing the circus' doctor. Holly finally has the center ring and star billing, but is not happy at how she got it. Brad cannot comfort her, as she now has feelings for Sebastian.
Brad, who runs a clean show, catches crooked midway concessionaire Harry cheating the customers. Harry is fired, vows revenge, and hangs about the periphery of the show sowing disaffection, particularly with Klaus. Several months later, Sebastian rejoins the show, but his right arm is paralyzed. A guilt-ridden Holly professes her love for Sebastian, believing Brad is unfeeling. Angel berates Holly for her actions and starts a relationship with Brad herself. During one of the performances, a furious Klaus threatens to have an elephant step on Angel rather than let her go to another man. Brad intervenes to save her and fires Klaus.
After one performance, FBI Special Agent Gregory, who is hunting for the mercy killer, joins the circus train. He shows Brad a photo of Buttons without makeup, but Brad does not recognize him. Later, Buttons tells Brad that Sebastian has feeling in his injured hand, a sign that his disability is not permanent. Brad makes the connection and casually observes that Gregory will be taking fingerprints at the next stop, so Buttons can escape or lie low if he wishes.
Harry and Klaus stop the first section of the train to rob the pay wagon. Klaus sees the second section coming, and realizes that Angel is aboard that train. He turns his car's headlights down the track to warn the oncoming train. Unable to brake in time, the second train smashes the car off the tracks, killing Klaus and Harry. It also collides with the first train, causing great damage and many injuries.
Brad is pinned in the wreckage, bleeding from a cut artery. Buttons tries to slip away from the wreck site, but Holly, realizing whom she truly loves, begs Buttons for help. Buttons gives Brad a direct transfusion from Sebastian, who has the same rare blood type. Gregory assists Buttons and afterwards reluctantly arrests him, telling him "You're all right." Buttons gives his dog to a child and leaves with Gregory to face an unknown fate.
Holly takes command of the show, mounting a parade that leads the whole nearby town to an open-air performance. Brad realizes how much he loves Holly, but she now has no time for him because the show must go on. Sebastian proposes marriage to Angel, and she accepts. Holly leads the performers in an improvised "spec" around the three rings – a magnificent recovery from the disaster that ensures the circus will continue its national tour.
The film features about 85 Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus acts, including clowns Emmett Kelly and Lou Jacobs, midget Cucciola, bandmaster Merle Evans, foot juggler Miss Loni and aerialist Antoinette Concello.[4] John Ringling North plays himself as the owner of the circus.
The film includes several unbilled cameo appearances (mostly in the circus audiences) including Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, Lamour's costars in the Road to ... films.[4] William Boyd appears in his usual guise of Hopalong Cassidy. Danny Thomas, Van Heflin, character actor Oliver Blake and Noel Neill are seen as circus patrons. Leon Ames is seen and heard in the train wreck sequence. A barker, kept anonymous until the film's end, is seen in the closing moments of the film. The voice is finally revealed to be that of Edmond O'Brien.
Release[edit]
The film premiered at the Florida Theater (now the Sarasota Opera House) in Sarasota, Florida.[9]
The film earned $12.8 million[10] at the box office in the United States and Canada, making it the highest-grossing film of 1952, as well as Paramount's most successful film to that time.[11] It was also the most popular film in Britain in 1952[12] and the most popular film of the year in France in 1953.[13]
The film played for 11 weeks at New York's Radio City Music Hall, a record duration that it shared with Random Harvest in 1942 and that would last until at least the 1960s.[14]
Critical reception[edit]
Contemporary[edit]
On the film's release, Bosley Crowther in The New York Times called The Greatest Show on Earth a "lusty triumph of circus showmanship and movie skill" and a "piece of entertainment that will delight movie audiences for years":[15]