1952--The Greatest Show on Earth, Cecil B. DeMille

 

1952--The Greatest Show on Earth, Cecil B. Demille
Nominated: High Noon, Ivanhoe, Moulon Rouge, The Quiet Man
Should Have Won: Singin' in the Rain
Be Sure to See: Monkey Business, Rabbit Seasoning
"The girl may say no but the woman in her says yes,"--Sebastian

    Before directing Charlton Heston in the epic Ten Commandments, Cecil B. DeMille guided him in The Greatest Show on Earth, 1952's second best movie about show business. The best, of course, is one of the greatest movies ever made...see the above section but it is pretty obvious.  Early on in this film, Heston is holding a baby gorilla. He worked much better with apes sixteen years later. However, I've seen thirteen of his movies (well two of them he had cameos) and I would say I've liked twelve of them at least a little bit (Almost an Angel being the only exception and The Naked Jungle was boring for the most part but came along at the end). The Greatest Show on Earth was an odd viewing for me because even though it had a lot of action, it was a bit boring. Seems like a contradiction I suppose. But for what it is worth I felt the same way about Jaws. 

     Heston (looking like an early model for Indiana Jones) plays Brad Braden, a traveling circus manager. The circus has lots of acts, like any circus, but the movie only cares about one: the acrobatic act. Two trapeze artists, one male one female, are competing for center ring. Holly is good but Sebastian is much better and more experienced. Sure there are some scenes with the elephants, one almost stepping on a woman's head, and the curiously out of place subplot of Buttons the Clown played by the normally top billed Jimmy Stewart. He never takes his makeup off...ever. He is wanted for a past crime that I think was murder but I'm not sure. But the main story is that of the acrobats, even over Braden’s story even though he is the main character. 

     The movie seems to follow All About Eve's formula from two years earlier about an up and comer trying to overtake the more established performer. But in this case, Holly and Sebastian seem to actually care for each other. The trapeze stunts are done quite well. It seems like the actors are actually the ones performing them in lieu of stunt doubles. True, some of the action high above the floor is neat, but the best act in the circus was the lady juggling off the floor. A scene that lasts fourteen seconds. I'd like to see more of her. 

    Some subplots are thrown in. The cops are onto Buttons and his crime and Sebastian has a nasty accident which leaves him injured in a way that doesn't seem like the injury fits the fall. There is a very impressively done train crash but I was confused by how quickly everyone moved on from it. Gives “The show must go on” a whole new meaning. Because Buttons was on the train, this sequence made me think of The Fugitive with a train crashing and one of the passengers is wanted. Buttons is involved in a sad scene helping someone with an injury. It was meant to come across sincere but since he is in his clown getup it is hard to take seriously.

     The Greatest Show on Earth is not the greatest movie you'll ever see. I'm not sure what the Academy was thinking crowning it over High Noon and am certainly baffled on omitting Singin' in the Rain, one of the greatest movies ever made, from contention altogether. I wouldn't suggest skipping this movie but if you put a list of the winners together in order of "must see," you would want to put this toward the bottom. 

   

    Though my favorite lines are the one above and when the narrator compares the 58,000 pound tent to a dismembered giant's skin, the most curious is one a woman says about Sebastian. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but she is washing another performer's hair when Sebastian walks by. The woman having her hair washed says “Why is it whenever he's around I'm all wet?” and the other woman says, “In more ways than one.” Naughty, naughty.