Critics often deride The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) as one of the worst Best Picture
winners in Oscar history, but Cecil B. DeMille’s elaborate circus spectacle
deserves a better reputation among classic movie fans. Yes, High Noon is the better film, but the
blame for choosing the safer picture over that politically charged Western
belongs to the Academy voters of 1952, not to DeMille or the very compelling
actors who star in The Greatest Show on
Earth. While the movie does favor the grandeur and leisurely pace of
another era of filmmaking, The Greatest
Show on Earth remains well worth watching for admirers of its many stars
and anyone who feels nostalgic for the big top’s glory days.
Charlton Heston leads a star-studded cast as Brad
Braden, the tough, no-nonsense manager of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum &
Bailey Circus. The circus has fallen on hard times, but Brad takes a chance on
a troublesome trapeze artist, The Great Sebastian (Cornel Wilde), to bring in
the crowds. Sebastian has a past with elephant trainer Angel (Gloria Grahame),
but he quickly fixes his attentions on Brad’s girl, an ambitious trapeze artist
named Holly (Betty Hutton). Other members of the circus family have their own
problems, including gentle Buttons (Jimmy Stewart), a clown who hides his mysterious
past beneath a painted smile.
The movie alternates between several distinct but
overlapping plots, interspersed with documentary-style depictions of real
circus life. The romantic entanglements of Brad, Holly, Sebastian, and Angel
lead to various disasters, both inside the ring and out, culminating in a
catastrophic train wreck that threatens to ruin the circus completely. The
wreck is an amazing set piece, with animals running loose, injured people
stumbling about, and plenty of smoke and chaos, but the scenes that come before
it offer just as many thrills, especially with so many stars performing real
circus stunts. Hutton, Wilde, and Grahame do impressive work, although dozens
of the performers we see are real circus stars, including Emmett Kelly,
Cucciola, The Alzanas, and The Flying Concellos. Their performances often
suspend the progress of the narrative, but they provide a grand sense of the
circus as a whole.
The
Greatest Show on Earth has its flaws. It runs long,
Hutton’s musical numbers don’t really work, and the romantic swapping of the
protagonists seems arbitrary, especially at the end. Stewart, however, is in
great form, and Hutton and Wilde have some fantastic scenes in which they try
to upstage one another. People who love circuses will find plenty to admire,
and kids will love it if they are old enough to sit still for the whole thing.
Bonus goodies include cameo appearances by stars like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope,
as well as Hopalong Cassidy star William Boyd.
The
Greatest Show on Earth also won the Oscar for Best
Writing, with five nominations in all. If you want to see more of Cecil B.
DeMille’s big shows, try The Sign of the Cross
(1932), Cleopatra (1934), and The Ten Commandments (1956). Look for
Charlton Heston in other early roles in Dark
City (1950), Touch of Evil
(1958), and Ben-Hur (1959). Betty
Hutton stars in The Miracle of Morgan’s
Creek (1944) and Annie Get Your Gun
(1950), while Cornel Wilde is remembered today for Leave Her to Heaven (1945) and The
Naked Prey (1966), which he also directed. See more of Gloria Grahame in It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), In a Lonely Place (1950), and The Big Heat (1953). Jimmy Stewart’s
other roles from this period include Winchester
’73 (1950), Harvey (1950), and Bend of the River (1952).
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