1952: The Greatest Show on Earth
Coming in at an epic 153 minutes, The Greatest Show on Earth tells the fantastic story of the circus. The film stars Charton Heston, because obviously. Does the man star in anything under 2.5 hours? Also, I must remember that in 1952, audiences generally had a longer attention span.
This film combined voiceover documentary storytelling with scenes of realistic interpersonal drama and politics happening behind the scenes of the Greatest Show on Earth. The voiceovers detailed the incredible manpower and sheer will it took to make the circus happen. Building the big top, loading the trains between cities with all the gear and animals and people, and breaking down sets after each performance.
The plot follows Brad, the administrative overseer of the circus; Holly, aerial performer extraordinaire and Brad’s pseudo-girlfriend; Sebastian, the headlining aerial artist and womanizer extraordinaire; and Buttons, the clown who never takes his makeup off and who may have a dark secret (played by James Stewart).
We twist and turn through several political moves and love triangles. Holly should be in the center ring, but Sebastian brings the money. Holly is in love with Brad, but he is distracted by running the circus. Then the pride, and the fall, and the switching around of lovers. And then the jilted lover who teams up with a cheating gambler on the Midway to make quick money to earn his lover back, but instead may destroy the circus altogether.
In between, there are many beautiful scenes of the circus in action. Music, parade sequences, elegant and extravagant costumes, animals and humans and their tricks.
The film was lovely, but pretty slow until the last half-hour when the love triangles and pride and and secrets all come to a head in a surprising, destructive twist. A bit overdone, perhaps, but speaks to the drive to keep the circus going.
It was interesting to watch this film in a post-circus America. I may have attended the circus once when I was about 4, and I have always wanted to ride an elephant, but the clown situation is a little unnerving. It’s easy to see why the circus could not survive as viable entertainment or financially. The sideshows provided employment for the outcasts of society at the time, but nowadays the world is much more available, and we have realized how unkind and unethical it is to profit from deformity. Financially, there is just way too much overhead cost–transportation, labor, paying the entertainers, caring for the animals, etc.
One scene stood out to me in particular. Our female lead, Holly, is bouncing on a trampoline with two other side characters between shows. They’re just goofing off, leaping over each other and singing some Broadway-style song. I thought to myself that if that scene were filmed today, all the entertainers would be totally zoned out on their phones between shows, instead of creating their own entertainment and interacting together. There were also plenty of close-up shots throughout the film of the audience gaping at the feats of agility before them and shoveling popcorn and ice cream in their mouths without taking their eyes off the center ring.
The circus couldn’t survive as entertainment because we’ve exchanged incredible feats of physical ability for cheap virtual imitation. Audiences no longer have the attention-span to watch, and entertainers have also moved onto platforms that are easier to reach, instead of twisting and strengthening their bodies over time into amazing physical performers.
