Caged Fury

This is a circus thriller with romantic lion tamers, treacherous clowns, and a lot of beautiful animals being abused. The stars are young lovers Blaney and Kit (Richard Denning and Sheila Ryan) who develop a lion taming act together when star attraction Lola (Mary Beth Hughes) is killed by the ornery lion, Samson. What nobody knows is that Lola's death was engineered by the clown Smiley (Larry "Buster" Crabbe) to make way for the promotion of Kit who he loves. It is actually Buster Crabbe in a rare villain role who is the main attraction in the center ring. He is the actor with screen presence and charisma who holds the movie together through a lot of standard fist fights, fires, and car crashes. "Caged Fury" only has 26 votes and one user comment at the database so, if you see this you are among an elite few (sarcasm alert).

The producing team of William Howard Pine and William C. Thomas could be said to have been in charge of Paramount's "B" unit. They were known around Hollywood as "the two dollar Bills". The reason for this nickname can be found in the low budget of many (though not all) of their offerings. In this one, the circus background provides plenty of opportunities for its hoary script to enliven proceedings by inserting loads of painfully obvious stock footage.

Fortunately, Mary Beth Hughes is in this movie and does what she can to save the day, although it is Buster Crabbe as the charismatic Smiley who benefits most from the attentions of director and photographer. The other players are quite flat.

This is a B-movie from Pine-Thomas Productions, the B unit from Paramount Pictures. And, like a typical B, it runs about an hour in length and stars lesser talent from the studio--in this case Richard Denning and Buster Crabbe.

The story is set at a traveling circus. Several accidents have occurred with the lion taming act. First, Lola is killed while doing the act. Second, Blaney (Denning) is nearly killed when a lion goes berserk and his gun filled with blanks doesn't work. In the process, the clown, Smiley (Crabbe) is injured...and Blaney thinks Smiley is behind all these so-called accidents. But they need to prove it first....and that means keeping a close eye on Smiley.

It must have been interesting for the actors to make this film, as they really did have to do some lion taming in the movie. I hope they paid them a bonus for all this work!!

Overall, an enjoyable and quick film...with a satisfying ending. Worth seeing.

There's a three-act in the Big Cat cage: clown Buster Crabbe, and lion tamers Richard Denning and Mary Beth Hughes. Both men are crazy for the lady, but she's jealous of up-and-coming Sheila Ryan. But when Miss Hughes dies in an apparent accident, Miss Ryan fits into the act very well, and into the threesome. Then one day she chooses Denning. Some time later, Miss Ryan almost gets mauled in an accident, but it's Crabbe who is hurt.

Circuses were long a popular setting for movies. When movies began, the circus was the most popular form of entertainment in the world. The fascination survived the ascendancy of the movies and radio, at least among the B movies, and this one, while the performers are pretty good, seems to be a study in stereotypes.

At least, this circus drama - and there were many of them in the Hollywood industry - is quite enjoyable, exciting, never boring nor even dull - a true performance from a lousy director such as William Berke - and offers us the fantastic opportunity to see Buster Crabbe is a villain role. The disguised clown, of course, reminds us THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - with Jimmy Stewart.... However, this low budget film, remains far from the Cecil B De Mille's masterpiece. But I highly recommend you this little budget yarn, which, I repeat, is not hard to watch. If you crave for those rare items, full of charm, this one is definitely made for you.