The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
The Greatest Show on Earth won the Best Picture award for the 1952 Oscars, but in a great travesty, it lost the award for Best Director. What a slap in the face to Cecil B. DeMille! Coordinating all the circus acts, talking his inexperienced actors to practice and perform trapeze stunts, working with animals, and staging the famous train sequence – what does it take? Here at the Hot Toasty Rag, we righted the wrong.
The bare bones of the story are very entertaining. Betty Hutton, a trapeze artist, is in love with the manager of the carnival, Charlton Heston. When he brings in a hotshot trapeze star, Cornel Wilde, she’s insulted and hurt. Cornel is hilarious in this movie with his fantastic French accent – and despite his fear of heights, he climbed up the ladder and swung on the trapeze! Gloria Grahame is also in love with Chuck, but she knows he doesn’t respect her. She works with elephants, and her domineering coworker wants to seduce her. Dorothy Lamour has a few musical numbers, and there’s a surprise performance by the actor who plays Buttons the Clown.
With all the grand spectacle of the circus environment, there were some major downfalls to the movie. One of my biggest criticisms was Charlton Heston’s performance. He just wasn’t believable as a carnival manager. He seemed like he didn’t understand all the moving parts, or that he didn’t know what his job even entailed. A far better choice would have been Dana Andrews. I’d believe he knew the ins and outs of the seedy carnival world, and that he’d had experience keeping everything and everyone in line.
The story itself had some realistic elements, like criminal activity and the seedy characters of the workers; but other parts of it were surprisingly amateur. Betty Hutton’s character was written to be innocent, sweet, and completely blinded by her love for Chuck’s character. But carnival workers weren’t innocent and sweet, so it was very unrealistic. She also has a running banter with Cornel, that feels like they’re backstage in a high school musical instead of a world-wise traveling circus.
I’m only harping on the criticisms to prove a point: it’s not perfect. If you haven’t seen the classic yet, absolutely rent it. It’s very entertaining, despite its flaws. But for a more realistic, gritty view of the carnival atmosphere, check out another Gloria Grahame flick, Man on a Tightrope.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Bing Crosby movies here!
More James Stewart movies here!
The bare bones of the story are very entertaining. Betty Hutton, a trapeze artist, is in love with the manager of the carnival, Charlton Heston. When he brings in a hotshot trapeze star, Cornel Wilde, she’s insulted and hurt. Cornel is hilarious in this movie with his fantastic French accent – and despite his fear of heights, he climbed up the ladder and swung on the trapeze! Gloria Grahame is also in love with Chuck, but she knows he doesn’t respect her. She works with elephants, and her domineering coworker wants to seduce her. Dorothy Lamour has a few musical numbers, and there’s a surprise performance by the actor who plays Buttons the Clown.
With all the grand spectacle of the circus environment, there were some major downfalls to the movie. One of my biggest criticisms was Charlton Heston’s performance. He just wasn’t believable as a carnival manager. He seemed like he didn’t understand all the moving parts, or that he didn’t know what his job even entailed. A far better choice would have been Dana Andrews. I’d believe he knew the ins and outs of the seedy carnival world, and that he’d had experience keeping everything and everyone in line.
The story itself had some realistic elements, like criminal activity and the seedy characters of the workers; but other parts of it were surprisingly amateur. Betty Hutton’s character was written to be innocent, sweet, and completely blinded by her love for Chuck’s character. But carnival workers weren’t innocent and sweet, so it was very unrealistic. She also has a running banter with Cornel, that feels like they’re backstage in a high school musical instead of a world-wise traveling circus.
I’m only harping on the criticisms to prove a point: it’s not perfect. If you haven’t seen the classic yet, absolutely rent it. It’s very entertaining, despite its flaws. But for a more realistic, gritty view of the carnival atmosphere, check out another Gloria Grahame flick, Man on a Tightrope.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Juhi Thaker" for posting!
More Bing Crosby movies here!
More James Stewart movies here!
Hot Toasty Rag Awards:
Best Director of 1952: Cecil B. DeMille
Hot Toasty Rag Nominations:
Best Picture