Review of The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) by Bobby D — 09 Jun 2010

A lot of this film is actually an intersting time capsule travelogue. To see this time when the Circus was actually a spectacle, the pagentry marvelled at. A simpler time when clowns weren't so scary and animal cruelty was kinda funny. Nothing in the "du Soleil" variety, but fun sparkliness nonetheless.

But it's not just circus acts. There's a love story. Charlton Heston plays the lead circus guy and his main concern is keeping the job going for a full 20 weeks. To do that, he has to bump his girlfriend off the center circle in place of a hot shot ladykiller Italian trapeze artist. The girlfriend and the ladykiller get all competitive in the air, which leads to some romantic traingle issues while Heston keeps his cards to his chest.

That triangle includes some romance, some tragedy and is actually resolved at about 90 minutes into the film. But this is a Cecil B. DeMille and we're not going to finish that easily. Which is long, but okay. We pick up a side story with Jimmy Stewart as a clown with a past. And also, another in a long line of support actresses who far exceed the lead in hotness. Oklahoma's Gloria Grahame makes a subtle dirty gesture to get Heston to bite her ass. But... I would have liked her anyway.

Sure, it's known as the least deserving Best Picture winner ever and I might disagree, but it's also not a great movie. The Spectacle: good. Screenplay: a bit much. Acting: Heston is a yellow-tooth soulless marine-in-leather. But, probably not the worst.