JohnHowardReid RELEASE DETAILS: Copyright 25 June 1964 by Samuel Bronston—Midway Productions. Released through Paramount Pictures. New York opening at Loew's Cinerama: 25 June 1964. U.S. release: 25 June 1964. U.K. release through Rank Film Distributors: 28 December 1964. London opening: 16 July 1964. Australian release through British Empire Films: 4 June 1965. 135 minutes (U.S.); 143 minutes (Australia). U.K. release title: The MAGNIFICENT SHOWMAN.SYNOPSIS: In the early 1900's, an American impresario takes his circus to Europe. COMMENT: "A dismally trite and obvious picture" wrote Bosley Crowther in The New York Times. I would not go anywhere like this far, but yes, the script is undeniably weak. Story issues are introduced which are neither resolved nor developed (particularly those involving Richard Conte character). Much tighter editing would help. We were almost asleep before the climactic fire re-awoke us to the earlier spectacular potential of the script, as in the early boat capsize episode. Both the boat capsize and the fire are particularly well-staged — a seamless collaboration between Hathaway and Talmadge (or did Hathaway stage these eps himself?). Talmadge undoubtedly did the "runaway" horse in the street and all the circus material where the hand of Renoir can be clearly detected in the characteristic use of more muted color than Hildyard is using for the main unit.Certainly Wayne himself is doing some of his own stunts, though a very obvious process screen is often employed. Acting is more creditable than usual under Hathaway's direction, despite the weak and familiar plot, the tedious dialogue and unresolved drama (presumably Conte started the fire and planted the stuff in Claudia Cardinale's dressing room, but after his dramatic impingement into Hayworth's opening shot at trapeze practice, he virtually disappears.Claudia herself is perhaps a little too enthusiastically vivacious and Mr. Smith is far too much of an eager-beaver, but Hayworth's restrained performance holds her scenes together. Wayne is his usual self. Nolan is a liability (admittedly he has the worst of the faithful, trusted sidekick dialogue) but Katherine Kath makes a memorable impression in her scene as Hayworth's former landlady. Kay Walsh has a tiny spot.A great deal of well-deserved footage is given over to the circus acts themselves — the plate sequence with the clowns is most amusingly well-timed, and I enjoyed the introductory act by Conte's double — the clown on the high wire!

Ilpo Hirvonen "Circus World" (1964), a grandiose Cinerama film directed by a Hollywood veteran Henry Hathaway, is a paradoxical case. The film was a big production, it had great stars, an acclaimed director, a highly appreciated screenwriter (Ben Hecht), and an even more celebrated writer behind the story (director Nicholas Ray), but yet the film has been, for the most part, forgotten. This is arguably justified since many do not feel that the film has the quality one might hope for. To my mind, the film's peculiarity is mainly due to its strange nature where the elegiac longing is combined with an extravagant approach. The story is very simple (an untold past tragedy casts its shadow on the present as a circus director, played by John Wayne, tries to create a successful show in Europe where he is reunited by his former lover, played by Rita Hayworth), but there's more than that to the film.By this I do not mean that Hathaway had elaborated a subtle subtext to the film in question or anything like that. I am merely talking about the art of history. First of all, "Circus World" is a film directed, written, and starred by old Hollywood legends. It was also made half a decade after the old studio system started to crumble. Many contemporary critics have later felt that films such as "The Searchers" (1958), "Rio Bravo" (1959), and "North by Northwest" (1959) were the last ones of a kind. "Circus World", on the other hand, is as though a posthumous legacy, in a somewhat similar sense as "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1961). Moreover, the film takes place in the early 20th century and dives into the nostalgic world of the circus which often represents a carefree existence of play and work (closely studied in the film of Federico Fellini, for one). While the historical setting seems to echo the film's own production time in this sense (reminiscing about the good old days before the world wars, semi-analogous to the good old days of Hollywood), the film's melancholic tone is further enhanced by the fates of its leading stars. It is well-known that "Circus World" was not only the last film John Wayne made before his lung cancer operation but also the first film where Hayworth's alleged Alzheimer's disease started acting up, causing numerous problems with production. It is as if everyone involved had been through their best days, inevitably casting an impact on the quality of the film in question as well, but still came together to perform in the wild circus world. This is why, in my opinion, the film's slow pace, effortlessly simple style, and naive story seem appropriate. It all seems to speak to the spectator on another level, so to speak. The film begins with emptiness and ends with fullness. "Circus World" is a film where an old world is softly breathing with modesty and ambition combined.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . and it obviously was aimed at the impaired prostate crowd, with all of its entrance music (for last minute leaks), intermission scoring (for mid-stream relief), and exit tunes (for guys who just cannot wait another second). But CIRCUS WORLD star John Wayne chose his projects carefully (no, he's NOT the killer clown, as you might guess), and he was sharp enough to realize that if half the geezers with one foot in an old folks home Ponied up to see this flick, he'd be able to corner the market on Panamanian shrimp (which he did, in Real Life). If you told a bunch of screenwriters the plot of CIRCUS WORLD, they'd tell you that it would be a real stretch to pad out such thin material to as long as a 90-minute film. But "Il Duce" never had any truck with people who could communicate in complete sentences, so he stubbornly insists here upon chewing up a lot more than he bit off during a grueling 143 minutes. My party was laughing hysterically as Wayne's "Matt" character shinnies up to the peak of the Big Top to save "Lili" from an inferno. Because even if CIRCUS WORLD had been a million years longer, Matt would still be trying to get off the ground!

stephangrunst I´m a big John Wayne Fan but this movie is very boring. John Wayne is acting like he thought the same in 1964. He is totally uninspired - like the whole movie is. 133 minutes and I fell asleep after 80 minutes. Endless scenes with animals, clowns and artists (one of them Rita Hayworth who looks like she will fall asleep every moment, too). In the beginning a ship is sinking and I thought I´m looking "Titanic" and in the end the circus tent is burning. But these scenes are without sense, only action - boring action. One of the movies of John Wayne you don´t need to see.