The Big Circus

This was all-too-obviously modeled by producer Irwin Allen on Cecil B. De Mille’s prestigious (and surprising) Oscar triumph THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952); consequently, the script is cliché-ridden, contrived and corny – but the end result is still professionally assembled and definitely not unentertaining for undiscriminating film buffs.

The stars (Victor Mature, Red Buttons and Rhonda Fleming) are easily overshadowed by the character actors (Gilbert Roland, Peter Lorre and Vincent Price); the latter two’s casting may be construed as a red herring given the presence of a saboteur – a rival’s lackey – amidst the troupe. Incidentally, Lorre has the old James Stewart clown role and Gilbert Roland ably steps into Cornel Wilde’s aerialist shoes; his all-important “crossing the Niagara” stunt is a (back-projection) highlight. Similarly, the initial animosity between Mature and ‘interlopers’ Fleming and Buttons predictably blossoms into, respectively, romance and familiarity (due to Buttons becoming engaged to Kathryn Grant, Mature’s younger would-be trapeze artist sister).

Along the way, the circus is hit by potential bank foreclosure, a lion set loose during a press conference, haystacks set ablaze, a fatal train-wreck, a trapeze artist losing his nerve during a performance, etc. The circus is also seen to move with the times – so that beleaguered owner Mature manages to bring his show to the people (rather than the other way around), via the nascent medium of television, when bouts of thunderstorms hit their scheduled stops!

The Big Circus was produced ten years after Cecil B. DeMille's Oscar winning "The Greatest Show On Earth" as brought to a close a decade of circus genre films. In this film, Victor Mature plays Hank Whirling, half owners of the Whirling-Borman Brothers Circus - The Biggest Show on the Face of the Earth.

The film begins with Whirling breaking off from the Borman Brothers with his half of the circus. He seeks financial backing from one of the oldest establishments on Wall Street - they will back the project, but aren't sure of the man. They force him to accept straight-laced Red Buttons as his financial adviser.

Buttons hires the beautiful Rhonda Fleming as the shows press agent and soon to be love interest for Mature. Things begin to go wrong for the show at the first Press Party when an escaped lion slinks ferociously into the tent while the party is going on.

There are so many possible villains to choose from. Is it the aloof ringmaster played with understated style by Vincent Price? Could it be the daring aerialist, played by film heavy Gilbert Roland? The lovable, but scary clown played by Peter Lorre? Or even the head man himself, Henry Jasper Whirling played by Mature - can you REALLY trust someone with the middle name of JASPER?

The escaped lion is followed by a freak fire that almost kills off all the circus animals and a train wreck that kills Roland's wife. Meanwhile the natural disasters are taking their tolls on the shows success - harsh and brutal rains diminish audiences while the Bormans' bask in the sunshine.

The show is going to go under if something BIG doesn't bring back the crowds. Mature influences, forces and shames Roland's wire walker to "Walk The Falls" for the good of the show. Cross Niagra Falls walking a tight rope!

We still do not know who the real villain is, but we know he has one last chance to bring the show to it's knees.

Buttons does a great turn as a foil to Mature's anger and bumbles his way through a classic clown routine doubling for an incapacitated Lorre. Kathryn Grant is great as Whirling's sister.

C'mon, where else are you going to find a cast like this - at these prices, at least? It may not have the benefit of a DeMille budget, but this little gem succeeds where that director's "The Greatest Show On Earth" fails.

In place of DeMille's overblown hokum (which took itself too seriously to the point of campiness), THE BIG CIRCUS is earnest, lean and tightly paced, with no illusions that it's anything other than what it is: a collection of all the admittedly cliché elements that belong in a big-top thriller: sabotage by a rival, a lion on the loose, a killer in their midst, a fire, a train wreck and even a walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope!

Seasoned pros Victor Mature, Gilbert Roland, Red Buttons and Rhonda Fleming give it their all without going overboard, Vincent Price and Peter Lorre appear appropriately suspicious for those wondering if type-casting will reveal one of them as the villain, David Nelson is on hand doing some of his own trapeze work and even Steve Allen gets into the act!

Don't look for import, just sit back and enjoy the ride (and forgive the cheesy matte work on the Niagara sequence; at least they sprang for CinemaScope).

The Big Circus is directed by Joseph M. Newman and jointly written by Irwin Allen (who also produces) and Charles Bennett. It stars Victor Mature, Red Buttons, Rhonda Fleming, Kathryn Grant, Vincent Price and Peter Lorre. Plot sees Mature as Hank Whirling, the owner of The Whirling Circus, where, having seen his partner break away to form his own show, he finds he has to beg a loan off the bank to keep the Whirling show going. The bank agree to the loan but on condition that their financial whizz Randolph Sherman (Buttons) travels along with the show to keep an eye on the finances. He in turn hires publicity agent Helen Harrison (Fleming) to professionally sell the product, but both of them are not wanted by Whirling. However, there are more pressing concerns for the show, there is a saboteur at large and it seems whoever it is will stop at nothing to finish off the Circus.

Looking for a Sunday afternoon time filler full of colour, vibrancy and delightful circus sequences? Then look no further than Irwin Allen's The Big Circus, an entertaining and tidy picture that seems to have been forgotten in the wake (fall out) of The Greatest Show On Earth. Making no bones about it, Allen follows the formula of the Cecil B. DeMille behemoth pretty much all the way, only the budget is considerably smaller so it obviously isn't as gargantuan as the 1952 Best Picture Winner. Fair to say there's some overacting, notably from Mature, but the mystery element is played close to the chest, with pretty much everyone under suspicion, and the high wire/trapeze antics are joyous. Nice cast, nice film and easy to recommend to the undemanding crowd. 6.5/10

After previously doing The Story of Mankind, producer Irwin Allen decided to do another all-star production with this: his version of The Greatest Show on Earth. Among the players are Victor Mature and Vincent Price who both previously were in Allen's Dangerous Mission as well as Peter Lorre who along with Price was also in Irwin's movie that I just mentioned at the beginning of this review. There's also Rhonda Fleming, Red Buttons, David Nelson from "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet", Gilbert Roland, Steve Allen as himself, and Kathryn Grant-the same one who I saw in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad last week and who by the time this movie was released was the second Mrs. Bing Crosby. Oh, and for fans of "The Andy Griffith Show", yes, that's Howard McNear near the end of the movie with a funny scene involving a lion! I'll just now say this was a very entertaining movie so that's my recommendation of The Big Circus. P.S. This review is dedicated in memory of Ms. Fleming who passed away on Oct. 14.