Side Show

Film buffs know that there were three official film versions of the play THE BARKER, namely THE BARKER (1928), HOOP-LA (1933) and DIAMOND HORSESHOE (1945), and real film buffs know that Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu made two unofficial remakes, A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS (1934) and FLOATING WEEDS (1959). But do they know about SIDE SHOW?

Consider this: SIDE SHOW features a traveling carny show called Col. Gowdy's Big City Shows. The barker (Donald Cook) is going with a girl in the show (Winnie Lightner) who he promises to marry but never does. Lightner is putting her younger sister (Evalyn Knapp) through school, and one day Knapp shows up unexpectedly at the show. Lightner tells Cook that while Knapp is around, they have to pretend that they don't have a relationship. She tells the innocent young Knapp that she can not stay with the show, even though Knapp points out that it's summer and there is no school. Lightner is called away for a moment, and while she's gone Knapp asks Col. Gowdy if she can stay, and he says it's OK with him, and when Lightner returns this endorsement from the Colonel is enough for her to relent. Cook starts to fool around with Knapp in a cynical way but then falls in love for real. Later, Knapp is doing a hoochie coochie dance while Cook shills for the show, when a local boy gets fresh with her. Cook starts a fight with the local, all the carny folks yell, "Hey, Rube!" and there's a royal free-for-all involving the whole carny. When the affair between Cook and Knapp is discovered, Lightner makes a big stink, and the two lovers leave the show. Wow. You'll find all these details, some slightly recast, in THE BARKER (and in the close remake HOOP-LA), even the name of the show. This isn't quite a remake of THE BARKER, and the very perfunctory and tacked-on ending here isn't similar to the original film (or the later HOOP-LA alternate), but there are an amazing number of similarities. The explanation is that THE BARKER was made by Warners and so they were free to cannibalize it. The name of the show may have been reused so that existing footage or props showing the name could be reused.

But this film isn't primarily a romantic drama, but more an excuse as a vehicle for three stars, only one of which is part of the love triangle. There's Charles Butterworth, who is given a lot of amusing business, and also has a number of lines that he can only have written himself. Some examples (said more-or-less apropos of nothing): "I know all about love. I learned about love from the state highway commissioner." "Well, Colonel, take it or leave it, I'm going for a bus ride." And "I believe I'd like to have a nice bag of stuffed figs." At one point he reads a long self-composed love poem to Lightner, which gets sidetracked into describing a sandwich.

Then, of course, there's Winnie Lightner, the supposed star of the film, who does some rather raw routines not related to the plot. She sings a long song in a hula outfit. (Hawaiian music is used as background music throughout the film to fairly good effect, another carryover from THE BARKER.) The song is about a girl whose smile says "Take a look at this," with Lightner (filmed from the navel up) raising her grass skirt at this repeated line. In another scene she impersonates a high diver and so as not to reveal her (supposedly) feminine voice, she talks in deaf-and-dumb hand signals. These are performed very fast, but one can catch a glimpse of not only "the finger" but the classic symbol of the forefinger of one hand poked through the circled thumb and forefinger of the other. Another scene has her playing a geek in black-face, making amusing geek noises.

Kibbee, the third star player, is Colonel Gowdy, and though he has no vaudeville routines as the others do, the character is built up to give him the sort of scenes that he does best; drunk scenes, and a heart-to-heart with Lightner, who is like a daughter to him.

Then there's Vince Barnett (a journeyman doofus I always enjoy) in a small part as The Great Santini. Yup, The Great Santini. One has to ask, was Pat Conroy, the author of the novel on which the film of that name was based, thinking of this film when he used the name, or was that name used in various early films and/or plays as a generic character name. Finally, the film has a nice carnival atmosphere, crowds on the midway, etc. There's a great shot taken from the Ferris wheel as it swings down and reveals the actors on the side-show stage. Visually, there is no stinting.

This is one of those early-Thirties programmers where an anemic plot is used as a background for a few musical numbers, some comedy routines and anything else that comes to mind, all jammed into 65 minutes. In this case, the combination is very agreeable.

Guy Kibbee runs a traveling circus that barely makes any money. Since Kibbee is usually drunk, the whole show is really run by versatile circus assistant Winnie Lightner, who fills in wherever needed, including doing the flaming high dive into a shallow pool when the regular diver is out sick.

Lightner has an understanding with long time boyfriend Donald Woods, who works as a barker. Fellow circus employee Charles Butterworth has the hots for Lightner himself, although she considers him strictly low comic relief.

The action really starts when Lightner's kid sister Evelyn Knapp shows up and is immediately drawn to dangerously attractive Woods. Will Woods take advantage of her youthful crush? Or stay true to his devoted girl Winnie?

The plot isn't that great but at least the picture doesn't take itself too seriously. Butterworth has a few funny lines but his humorous moments are mainly rather tame bits like appearing in his nightgown while still wearing his hat. Woods is manly, Knapp is very cute, Kibbee is blustery as the boss who is generally overruled.

Winnie Lightner is clearly our heroine, the talented and dedicated woman holding the whole show together - and while she does fine, neither the plot nor the dialog really give her much to work with.

Mildly entertaining but mostly interesting for the cast.

Winnie Lightner, who I remember liking as a supporting player in Dancing Lady, brings her affable personality to the lead role in this comedy centered around the goings-on in a traveling circus. Although rather episodic, there is a narrative throughline dealing with a love triangle between her, another guy named Joe, and her sister, who visits during the summer when she's out of school. While there wasn't a really memorable arc for anyone, the performances were generally good and there were a couple of standout moments for Winnie Lightner. The first was a bawdy musical number; and the other was late in the film when she really lets one guy have it (Go off, Winnie!). I found the narrative resolution to be rushed, and a bad example of the "Hollywood ending," but I found this Side Show a pleasant diversion.

Side Show (1931)

** (out of 4)

Decent melodrama from Warner has Winnie Lightner playing Pat, a jack-of-all-trades working in a traveling circus whose life falls apart when the man she (Donald Cook) loves runs off with her younger sister (Evalyn Knapp). While all of that is going on Winnie is also having to worry about the circus itself falling apart as its owner (Guy Kibbee) can't afford to pay the workers. SIDE SHOW is a pretty bizarre little movie that's story is way too weak and predictable to work but thankfully the cast are so good that they make the film worth sitting through and especially at such a short running time (64-minutes). I think the best thing that can be said about the film is that the performances are exceptionally good with each cast member coming off very believable in their part. Lightner plays a very tough, head strong woman and she makes you believe that this is the way she is. I thought he handled some of the lighter comedy just fine but she also did a good job once the drama starts. Cook delivers a fine performance as the dirty two-timer and Knapp beings a certain naive quality to the role and you can see why she'd fall for her sister's man. Charles Butterworth gets a lot of screen time but most of it has him looking straight at the camera and delivering his type of humor. It seems more people are torn on the comic ability of Butterworth but I've always found him rather entertaining and I think he gets to shout off a few good jokes here. Kibbee plays the lovable drunk like only he could. One other good thing is that you really do get a good, intimate feel of what a traveling circus must have felt like. With all of that said, there's no question that the film is way too predictable for its own good and the entire love triangle just isn't believable. What's even worse is the horrid ending, which is just so bad that you can't help but think the studio must have gotten a hold of it. SIDE SHOW is certainly minor entertainment but fans of the cast will want to check it out.

Winnie Lightner seems very game. She looks like someone who'd be a lot of fun. She's likable and seems up to pretty much any task. But she doesn't come across as someone who could carry a movie -- though she's called to here.

Donald Cook, on the other hand, seems very modern as her shiftless boyfriend. He was an interesting leading man who never really made it big. One wonders why.

The rest of the cast includes many character performers such as Guy Kibbee who worked in Hollywood for decades. I think I a caught a glimpse of the straying husband from "Freaks" (a totally different and infinitely better movie also with a circus theme.)