The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Genre: Drama / Family
Duration: 152 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille
Stars: Charlton Heston, James Stewart and Betty Hutton
IMDb score:
6,5 (17.268)
Releasedate: 16 February 1952
The Greatest Show on Earth plot
"The Heartbeat Story of Circus People, Filmed with the Cooperation of Ringling Bros. - Barnum and Bailey Circus!"
'The Greatest Show on Earth' is like a magician who takes people of all ages from six to sixty from the everyday grind into a world of suspense, humor and defiant beauty. But behind this backdrop hides a life of discipline, talent and courage. One thing is certain: the circus presents the greatest show on earth.
Actors and actresses
Holly
The Great Sebastian
Brad Braden
Phyllis
Angel
Buttons
FBI Agent Gregory
Klaus
Mr. Henderson
Himself
Reviews & comments
Spetie
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- 38871 messages
- 8251 votes
There were surprisingly few reports on this film, which is understandable on the one hand, but also striking on the other hand, because the film won the Oscar for best film and was actually the main reason why I saw this film.
Although the film is grandly conceived, it is otherwise an unremarkable film. The film revolves around the complications in and around the circus. The fact that the film is so long is mainly due to the numerous circus performances that are incorporated into the film. With a little less of those kinds of acts, half an hour of film could easily have been done, although the various performances themselves were certainly not bad.
The film is otherwise quite colorful, although the story between the performances is incredibly cliché and standard. The company of deceit and fraud is rampant among all the artists, managers and other people around the circus.
Furthermore, the film has decent acting performances by Heston and a literally clownish Stewart. Betty Hutton, by the way, acts remarkably badly and I also found her character quite irritating at times.
In the end it is fun to have seen it once. It is not all good, but because of the alternation between story and performances the two and a half hours were still quite fast.
2.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Vinokourov
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- 3143 messages
- 2909 votes
Oh, this is tasteless kitsch. It won the Oscar for best film and attracted hordes of cinema-goers in the 1950s, who apparently wanted to gawk at colourful circus acts surrounded by a soapy story or something that had to pass as a quasi-documentary. Various facets of circus life are reviewed, but I didn't find it very interesting. Charlton Heston and Jimmy Stewart (as a clown) play the leading roles and do so on autopilot. The female lead (trapeze artist) is filled by a hysterical person. Anyway, this is not a cool film.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 31191 messages
- 5473 votes
The Greatest Show on Earth is certainly not the Greatest Movie in the Cinema! A year after An American in Paris won the Oscar for best film instead of the ultimate classic A Streetcar Named Desire, the Academy again gave a statuette to mainly a safe Hollywood film: The Greatest Show on Earth. While a film like High Noon was also nominated...
The film is a long circus show that tries to increase the tension by focusing on the trapeze acts. In between a love triangle with some romance and an intrigue around one of the circus members. Quite a messy script without real build-up. Visually somewhat dated with fortunately still a few exciting moments. But otherwise this is rather poor. Despite the presence of well-known names in front of and behind the camera.
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