Zirkus des Todes

A high-wire act is going on as the film opens. The wire snaps, and Gaspar The Great is victim #1. Ringmaster Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford) sends out clowns to distract the audience as the body is carried off. Later that night, Rivers is going over box-office receipts, which upsets her manager Dorando (Michael Gough). He accuses her of not having a heart. The rest of the film is a whodunit, spiced with occasional killings, red herrings, and animal acts (the French poodle act was my favorite).

The Billy Smart Circus of Britain did the animal acts and the most difficult stunts. They also participated in an earlier British horror film, "Circus of Horrors" (1960).

Joan Crawford has a marvelous time chewing the scenery and outacting her costars. Diana Dors is fine as Matilda, the woman whose partner "does nothing in bed but snore". Hardin is the hunk who replaces Gaspar on the wire and in Monica's bed. Geeson is the girl who gets herself expelled from a private school and goes to work as the target in the knife throwing act.

The film does slow down after a fast moving first half hour. The finale is too abrupt, unconvincing, and badly staged. Despite these faults, film is still worth a watch.

Berserk!, despite many things including its overkill title, is not as bad as some people claim, though not a great success either, not as good as Max Ophuel's Lola Montes. The actors get through their lines professionally. Set in a circus, the movie does a tolerably good job of showing performers of the class of "freaks" as responsible participants, notably George Claydon. Its best scene is when the character played by the ueberblonde Diana Dors barges in, bottle in hand, on shirtless Ty Hardin, and he resists her close up. For his own reasons, he's set instead on Joan Crawford. Joan was not a spring chicken by the time the movie was made, if she ever was one: she looks good in her ringmaster's costume, running the circus she owns, but someone should have helped her better with the red cloak she throws over her dowdy nightgown and told her never to let down her red-tinted hair. The real problem is that the movie never lets sparks fly between her and Ty Hardin. It's not a question of age difference, because look at Anna Magnani's triumphs over Burt Lancaster and Marlon Brando. OK, Joan Crawford in this movie has the additional handicap of playing a character hard as nails. But a better script would have made the discrepancy of her motives tragic. The last 10 minutes close things down in a pretty improbable way (the last murder is not done by the same person as the others). It would have helped to have ten more minutes for the Crawford character to be bereft and not berserk. Meanwhile, for those into it, there are lots of circus acts that emphasize their risks.

"We've eaten caviar, and we've eaten sawdust".

Only Joan Crawford could muster the dramatics possible to make the above line actually work, but she does it all with a totally straight face and makes this movie hysterically funny! Her scenes in lingerie with studmuffin Ty Hardin must be seen to be believed. That woman must have had an ego the size of Texas. The movie is worth seeing as a 'bad' movie that you'll enjoy.

Joan Crawford's fans will appreciate her foray into yet another horror show, this time as the feisty, hard-edged manager of a traveling circus show suddenly burdened with murders of several circus members. The careful photography cannot hide the fact that Crawford has aged considerably--and consequently, although her figure is still trim, her scenes with hunky Ty Hardin have an unpleasant and unbelievable quality about them.

The plot is strictly standard fare--who is responsible for the series of gruesome murders? For awhile, it looks like Joan herself is probably the wicked one--and there are a few other red herrings to make you think you know who did it. When the ending is revealed, in a climactic thunderstorm, it comes as a distinct letdown although a surprise, the reason being the guilty one is given no substance in the plot. The killer's identity seems highly implausible which makes the ending seem as though it has been merely tacked on to provide a final scene.

As these sort of things go, BERSERK isn't a bad way to pass the time on a low-budget mystery. The technicolor is good, Joan's costumes are fantastic, her shapely legs are on almost constant display and she uses her haughty manner to great effect. The details of circus life are smoothly integrated into the story and some of the animal acts are amusing--but none of the characters have any depth. Ty Hardin makes a handsome and arrogant stud whose daredevil highwire act provides some high moments of suspense as he performs over a row of spikes below. Like Crawford, he's given ample opportunities to show off his handsome physique.

Diana Dors makes the most of her role as an outspoken tart and all of the supporting performances are competent enough--Michael Gough, Judy Geeson and Robert Hardy. Certainly worth a view if you're a Crawford fan. The dialogue is ripe with campy one-liners.

Trivia note: The plot is slightly reminiscent of Barbara Stanwyck's LADY OF BURLESQUE where a series of backstage murders takes place with a slim plot involving a jealous performer.

It's very sad to see Joan Crawford reduced to appearing in this cheaply made and poorly written opus but she behaves like a STAR all the way through. Who else would have looked so good in a leotard at 62 years old? The film is set in a travelling circus (in reality the UK's Billy Smarts Circus, one of the best and biggest of its day)and much of the running time is taken up with showing the acts. As most UK circus acts are now animal free it's an interesting history lesson to see how these acts were actually presented. It's quite a breathtaking sight to watch a huge elephant step over half a dozen women prostrate on the floor and rather sad to see the lion tamer putting half a dozen snarling, growling beasts through their paces. Just look at Joans expression as she helps lead out the performing poodles though, she's loving every minute of it! We know that she had pet poodles of her own and she is really in her element here. The plot (what there is of it) doesn't bear too much scrutiny and the revelation of the killer and the motive are quite ridiculous. Also on the minus side of things are some poor performances - George Claydon in particular and a cringe-making musical comedy number which appears out of nowhere. There is also a hugely embarrassing scene with Crawford looking like an ancient ghost, wearing shoulder length hair and a neck high negligee, being romanced in her trailer by hunky Ty Hardin - she was 62 and he 37! On the plus side there are some great character actors appearing including the fabulous Diana Dors, Michael Gough, Ambrosine Phillpotts and Robert Hardy but only Diana Dors gives Crawford a run for her money. Overall this is still a fun film for Crawford fans but if you're going to watch it don't watch the trailer first as it shows every killing and even the death of the (supposed) murderer!