In 1953, a film titled The Greatest Show on Earth won the prize for Best Picture, a not so small film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. DeMille, best known for his biblical epic The Ten Commandments starring Charleton “get your hands off me, you damn dirty ape” Heston (that was a Planet of the Apes reference).
DeMille has a very long and impressive career starting 52 years before the release of The Ten Commandments, producing and directing over 80 films, which include Adam’s Rib, Cleopatra, Samson and Delilah, and even an original attempt at The Ten Commandments in 1923. A career that spanned both silent, and talking pictures, DeMille sort of invented the big Hollywood “epic”, creating movies that are often very grandeous with extensive run times.
Next to Steven Spielberg, DeMille probably has one of the other more well-known names. Most people may or may not have seen his films (unless you are celebrate Easter, then you see The Ten Commandments at least once a year), they have at least heard the most famous ‘misquote’ by Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)* – “I’m ready for my closeup Mr. DeMille” (the correct quote is “Alright Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup”.
One last note on Cecile B. DeMille, and his importance to cinema. The Hollywood Foreign Press, gives out a “Cecil B. DeMille Award” every year, honoring a filmmaker who contributed to the art of motion pictures. First given in 1952, DeMille was it’s first recipient, followed by Walt Disney a year later.
If you’ve seen a DeMille picture, it’s easy to see why he deserves such an honor. The Greatest Show on Earth is no exception, a film that has flown under my radar, as admittedly I was only familar with The Ten Commandments before this. Another film that fits into the “epic” paradigm, this film stars Chareton Heston as Brad Braden, the manager of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Baily Circus. He is a stubborn man, with a passion for the circus, and knows every aspect of his job inside and out. And his main concern is bringing the entertainment to the people, while keeping his circus family safe in the process.
Brad’s main love interest, is a trapeze artist named Holly (Betty Hutton) who at the beginning of the film is head over heals for him, but often feels second rate compared to his number one love, the circus. Brad makes an important financial decision, and brings in another trapeze artist who is a greater draw to circus, unfortunately this star knocks Holly out of center ring, a spot she has coveted her entire life.
From here on out, the film twists and turns through many plot points, and love trinagles, all while set against the backdrop of an actual working circus.
This film clocks in at 2 1/2 hours, mostly due to the long scenes of circus acts, and documentary type footage showing a behind the scense look at how the circus is run.
Some filmgoers, may have an issue with a film that goes into such great detail over the day to day runnings of a circus. Especially now, in a time where the circus is not something that’s as beloved or highly regarded as it once was.
I on the other hand, was blown away by this film, as I love the circus. Everything about this film brought back memories of the “Great Circus Parade” that passed through my home town of Milwaukee, Wisconsin every year. The Ringling circus stored all of it’s wagons in Baraboo, Wisconsin so as they were either being brought OUT of storage or going back IN to storage, they would put them on parade. The entire parade was something straight out of the hey day of the Ringling circus.
Now, there’s one aspect of circus life that I haven’t mentioned yet, it’s something that’s near and dear to my own heart, but a cause of fear to most people out there. I’m speaking of the dreaded clown!! This film is fillled with all sorts of famous clowns, in fact as was watching this movie, I saw two of the most famous clowns in the world, Lou Jacobs, and Emmett Kelly. (When I was a kid I wanted to be a clown, in fact I still do!).
One clown in particular though, took me by surprise. Buttons the Clown, played by none other then Jimmy Stewart, in a performance that is deserving of an Oscar!
Now getting down to brass tacks, beyond the nostalgia, and the love for circus… let’s look at the film from a critics stand point. I don’t believe that in comparison to The Ten Commandments, or Cleopatra, this was DeMille’s best… in fact I’m sure that in his entire career, this is not his best film. I would imagine a movie like The Ten Commandments would be more deserving of an Oscar win, however sometimes I think that runtime has a lot to do with a win. The longer the movie, the better chances it has of winning an Oscar (probably not really true, just an observation).
For the most part, this film plays more as documentary, and that’s alright it’s grandeous nature allowed for a hybrid of both. I do think however, based on my love of the circus, this will be one that I will watch again some time soon.
* Look for my review of Sunset Boulevard in a future update to All Things Kocinski.
