Trapeze

Actually I think Trapeze is a fairly decent depiction of a 1950s European flyer's act. And I understand that Mr. Lancaster was an acrobat whose career was ended due to injury prior to his becoming an actor. So this may have enabled him to have a good feel for his role.

But I'm also a bit biased. I've been to a couple of circuses in Paris, which seemed to mirror the film's atmosphere and I actually met the actors who starred in this film.

In 1955 I was living on an American military base near Paris where Trapeze was being filmed. The USO hosted a gathering on base and Tony Curtis and Gina Lollabrigida appeared to promote the film and sign autographs. My older sisters got their photos taken with Mr. Curtis.

So naturally, whenever I catch this film on late night cable, I see it from a nostalgic point of view.

I remember seeing "Trapeze" as a youngster in the mid-1950's. But watching it recently, many decades later, I was surprised at how well it has held up.

Set in a circus in Paris, Mike Ribble (Burt Lancaster), a famous trapeze artist crippled in a fall, trains a promising young aerialist, Tino Orsini (Tony Curtis).

They form a strong bond and aim for Tino to complete a dangerous triple somersault. However, beautiful, ambitious Lola (Gina Lollobrigida) manipulates her way into the act, and the ensuing love triangle proves more dangerous than any somersault.

In the novel that the film was based on, "The Killing Frost" by Max Catto, Mike Ripple's feelings towards Tino Orsini are beyond mere friendship, and he resents the arrival of the woman not just because she is interrupting their training schedule. His jealously leads to murder at the end of the book. Now a gay theme was never going to get past the censor in a 1956 movie so the ending plays out differently, but there is an undercurrent.

It was shot for the most part in the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris. The director Carol Reed and Photographer Robert Krasner, who worked together on "The Third Man", caught the high-flying trapeze work just as brilliantly as they had captured Harry Lime scurrying down those Viennese sewers.

Burt Lancaster with his circus background did many of his own stunts, but Tony Curtis and Gina Lollobrigida also did some: climbing tricky rope ladders and swinging from the platform - enough for you to believe they are really up there.

Kate Buford in her book "Burt Lancaster: An American Life" relates how Burt Lancaster and Gina Lollobrigida did not get on, however it gave their performances bite. Lancaster looks amazing in this film; muscles, teeth and intensity. Curtis really was a star on the rise; he and Lancaster hit it off and starred together again in the brilliant "Sweet Smell of Success". But 'La Lollo' more than holds her own. She looks sensational with a full figure and a waist you could close your hands around.

If I have a criticism, it is with the Malcolm Arnold's score. Arnold scored many British films in the 50's and 60's, and most of them sounded the same - he didn't change gears much for this one.

Uninspired score aside, "Trapeze", with its powerhouse trio of stars and its authentic look, is a film I can happily revisit.

What can we say about the big guy? He did his own stunts and this little film with Tony "Yonder's m'fadda's castle" Curtis [né Schwartz] and the lovely Ms. Lollobrigida, along with vet character actor Tom Gomez, delivers. Lots of fun. Lots of stunts. A reminder of a long gone era when movies had something to say. I remember seeing this one in San Francisco when it first aired. My date that evening was beautiful El Salvadorian who looked (nearly) as gorgeous as Gina. But, the film was so good, I stayed on my best behavior, much to her (and my) surprise. Ah, those were the days and this was a fun film to watch. The scene where Curtis and Lancaster walk home on their hands alone was worth the price of admission-- for both of us.

Almost a great circus movie, (if such a thing could exist), "Trapeze" comes closer than most to capturing the tawdry excitement of the milieu. While most circus pictures are aimed at kids this is aimed, if not quite at adults, then at least at older kids. It's sexy and it makes the whole business of being a trapeze artist seem like the sexiest, most exciting thing in the world.

It's about the rivalry that can develop, both professionally and romantically, between artists and the director, Carol Reed, gives the film a charge that his more famous and infinitely more civilized films don't have. As the trio of artists who are almost consumed by their passions Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Gina Lolobrigida have an instinctive rapport. Lancaster and Curtis' performances here seem like a dry run for their work a year later in "Sweet Smell of Success" and Lolobrigida never looked or acted better. Although Lancaster wasn't young when he made this, he's like the biggest kid in the playground and seems to be having a hell of a time while Lolobrigida is a dynamic tease.

Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis and Gina Lollabrigida star in "Trapeze," a 1956 film directed by Carol Reed and also starring Katy Jurado, Thomas Gomez and Johnny Puleo. Lancaster plays a former trapeze artist turned rigger, Mike Ribble, working in a Paris circus. A once great artist, he is grounded due to a permanent injury while doing his famous triple. He is approached by Tino Orsini (Tony Curtis), a talented aerialist who wants to learn the triple. Ribble sees the man's talent immediately, takes him on, and agrees to be his "grabber," the man who catches him mid-air. Problem arise when the beautiful, seductive user Lola (Gina Lollabrigida) who plays both men in order to be part of the act.

Director Reed gives the viewer the vivid experience of working in the circus and the resulting pressure cooker of relationships. The trapeze work is glorious, and there is plenty of it.

Lancaster has the major role, and he gives an excellent performance as a man with no illusions who, through Tino, dares to dream again. His muscular build is shown to great advantage as well. Curtis is excellent as the young, ambitious Tino who falls hard for Lola. Lollabrigida is gorgeous and sexy as the alluring Lola - she does a good job, but really, all she has to do is stand there and she IS the role. The supporting cast is solid, including Katy Jurado as an ex-girlfriend of Mike's and Thomas Gomez as the owner of the circus.

I don't have any figures, but I suspect this film was a big hit. It led to another Lancaster-Curtis collaboration, Sweet Smell of Success, so for that reason alone, it would be worth it. However, Trapeze flies on its own merits.