The Big Show

One of the best films of the late 1940s was "House of Strangers"...starring Edward G. Robinson and Richard Conte. It's a tense and exceptionally well written and well acted movie...one you'll long remember. In light of just how good it is, you wonder why the studio decided to remake the film....and change the setting from a family business in the States to a family-owned circus in Germany. My only guess is that the 1950s and early 60s saw a butt-load of circus films, including the Oscar-winning "The Greatest Show on Earth", "Trapeze", "Circus World". For the most part, I actually thought these circus films were pretty dull....and moving the setting to a circus made the movie a hard sell for me.

The story begins with the oldest son, Josef (Cliff Robertson), arriving at his family-run circus after spending some time in jail. Why he was in jail is unknown and the film then consists of a long flashback. In the flashback, you see that the family patriarch, Bruno Everard (Nehemiah Persoff) is a controlling man who treats his grown children more like employees or children than adults. He tells them what to do and, aside from a bit of grumbling, they all knuckle under and do what he demands. Whether for right or wrong, he never allows them to live their lives or make important decisions...including who they can or cannot marry. Obviously something has to give....as this arrangement cannot go on forever.

There is nothing wrong with "The Big Show". Persoff in particular is a great actor (and the father in this story is still alive and kicking at 101 years of age) and Robertson is just fine. But the problems are that only one of the sons is actually German and none seem to have German accents...which is odd for a family of Germans!! They sound American. In addition, while a good film, it offers no improvements over the original and is actually a bit disappointing because of this and a lack of originality. My advice is to just watch the original film and "The Big Show" only if you insist on comparing the two.

A good cast struggles with a silly, mawkish script about how the children of tyrannical circus owner Nehemiah Persoff struggle for control of the circus -- a remake of HOUSE OF STRANGERS -- and the result is boring, but some pretty shots of mountains and great animal acts -- including trained polar bears and hippopotomi -- make this worth seeing at least once.

The casting is interesting. Esther Williams is present for star power, even though, as others have noted, wet she's a star, dry she's nothing. The rest of the cast is excellent, including Robert Vaughn and Cliff Robertson before they hit it big, but they aren't given much help in direction. Still the animal acts may make this worth your time.

The best performance in the movie is by Nehemiah Persoff's as Everard father. The main problem is that any of the characters is kind or sympathetic nor well written (Carol Christensen does not have much to do with her sister's role) and this, added to a poor script burdens the film. Esther Williams' appearance is little more than anechdotic and she appears in a swimming pool in a glimpse of what could have been the best part of the movie. Best performances run on the animals' account, which I am not very fond of as a form of slavery. Even a hippo appears (I had no idea they could be tamed). The end is totally absurd and preposterous, adding a silly final curtain.

Reworking of "House of Strangers" has Nehemiah Persoff in the Edward G. Robinson role of a widower patriarch, this time a demanding, domineering circus owner who keeps his sons and one daughter tightly under this thumb. Cliff Robertson, who keeps calling Persoff "Pup-puh", takes the rap for Dad once a tragedy strikes; shady sibling Robert Vaughn assumes control of the business after Robertson is sent to prison (what Vaughn plans to do with the circus isn't really clear, except that is sounds like a sell-out). Two sideline romances are much more interesting than the family conflicts, and Persoff is grueling and merciless while criticizing his children (this Daddy Dearest is hardly a sympathetic character, though I'm pretty sure we're meant to feel something for him in the final reel). The circus asides are given surprisingly short shrift in favor of the melodramatics, which are both over-the-top and stilted. Good cinematography helps quite a bit, as does a fine, non-showy performance by Esther Williams as a wealthy woman in love with Robertson. ** from ****

Boring melodrama about a family of circus performers. I only watched it for Esther Williams and I was sorely disappointed she has little to do but play the rich lady slumming with Cliff Robertson. If these were the kinds of roles she was being offered, it's no surprise Esther would retire from the screen a couple of years later. The story is uninteresting. Good son (Robertson), bad son (Robert Vaughn), hard-to-please father (Nehemiah Persoff). It's a variation on "House of Strangers" and not the least bit exciting. All in all, a mediocre film that's instantly forgettable. I can't recommend it as anything other than a sleep aid.