3 du trapèze

Donald Cook, June Travis and Robert Livingston star in this low-budget B-movie from Republic Pictures. The fact that this studio made it isn't surprising, as Livingston was a very familiar face in their cowboy films.

The film is set, not surprisingly, at a circus. The film is about three trapeze artists. A nice young lady (Travis) is infatuated with a handsome and VERY confident new man to their troop (Cook). Little does she know that the other trapeze artist (Livingston) is infatuated with her as well. Soon she marries Cook, but Cook quickly realizes Livingston is interested in Travis--and they get into a fight. Soon after this, Cook falls from the trapeze and he assumes Livingston dropped him by mistake. See the film to see what happens next in this circus romance.

All in all, a reasonably diverting film. There is a problem with the film, however, and that is the ending. This just didn't feel right and Travis' reaction was inexplicable. HOWEVER, this might not be the fault of the filmmakers. That's because the version now available is severely truncated--and runs well under an hour. Perhaps in its original form the ending made more sense and Travis' change of attitude made more sense. As is, it just seemed rushed and incomplete despite being an otherwise good film.

Self-centered aerialist Donald Cook dumps lion tamer Betty Compson to marry fellow trapeze artist June Travis. He immediately becomes jealous of the third member of their act, Bob Livingston. He tries to arrange an accident, but Miss Compson gets in the way. Then another attempt, and Livingston is out for a while. But Miss Travis is loyal to her friends, and the act reforms. He comes up with an especially fiendish "accident".

It was a bit difficult to watch this movie; it was a poor print colorized without much skill. Nonetheless, director John Auer gets some decent (if rather clueless) performances out of his leads, with members of the famous Escalante family doubling for them in the long shots. Other interesting performers include Charlie Murray (he would make only two more movies before dying in 1941 at the age of 69), Emma Dunn, and John Wray.