tomsview
I must admit I had never heard of "Man on a Tightrope" until I read Elia Kazan's autobiography, "Elia Kazan: A Life".The story is based on a true event; the escape of the entire Circus Brumbach in 1950 from East Germany to West Germany. Renamed Cirkus Cernik in the film; they escape from Czechoslovakia.Kazan tells how he agreed to make it only after he found that the story was true. He travelled to Bavaria and met the people of the circus and developed a great rapport with them.Kazan had just named names at the HUAC hearings, and was receiving hate mail and hostility from former friends and associates. Although he had once been in the communist party, he claimed he had long ago become anti-communist, and he felt right at home with these circus people who had fled a repressive communist regime; they didn't feel he had done anything wrong at all. It was a healing process for Kazan.Kazan respected the cast and crew in this film: the real circus people who played small parts or worked as extras, but also his American performers. Most weren't major stars, but he admired the honesty with which they approached their roles. They had to rough it; Germany 8-years after the war didn't provide the comforts of Hollywood. Fredric March whose career was winding down, warned him that he sometimes overacted, but he gave an affecting performance as circus owner Karel Cernik. Gloria Grahame as his cheating wife was never photographed to better advantage; she seemed naturally beautiful without her usual heavy makeup. Terry Moore as Cernik's daughter insisted on doing her own stunts including the scene in the fast flowing river.Despite being based on fact, some rather predictable dramatic elements were added and the film was hacked by the studio; ultimately it failed at the box office. However the film has a brilliantly authentic look and when you know a little of how it was made and the circumstances surrounding it, it gains a dimension far beyond what we see on the screen.
jotix100
"Man on a Tightrope", the 1953 film directed by Elia Kazan surprises for the way the director working overseas, mainly in Austria and Germany, was able to capture the atmosphere of the Cold War during the years after WWII. Based on a Neil Paterson story, "International Incident", it was adapted for the screen by Robert Sherwood. Unfortunately, this picture is not seen often enough these days, but it is worth a view by fans of Elia Kazan because it shows him at the top of his form.We are taken to the Cernik Circus, a third rate enterprise, whose owner, Karel Cernik is planning an escape to the West from a an Iron Curtain country, in this case, Czechoslovakia. It was no easy task to try to flee any of those countries during that time. With great resolution Karel plans the way to do it, not without a lot of things that get in the way of the escape.Frederick March, one of the best actors of that period, plays the older Cernik with great conviction. Gloria Grahame is his flighty wife, who at the end recognizes the courage of a husband she didn't seem to care for. A young Terry Moore is Tereza in love with Joe Vosdek, played by Cameron Mitchell. Richard Boone has an excellent opportunity in which to shine."Man on a Tightrope" should be seen by serious fans of the great director Elia Kazan, as it will reward the viewer.
jim-862
A film about escape from the Stalinist tyranny of the East Bloc? In the 1950s? By the Director who brought you Splendor in the Grass, East of Eden, and On The Waterfront? Never heard of it, huh? Perhaps it is time to look a little more closely at Hollywood's Celluloid Curtain and see if indeed our entertainment industry thinks that exposing totalitarianism is somehow not "politically correct." One seriously has to wonder why this star-studded, exciting, and uplifting film has received so little airtime over the years.Frederic March, Gloria Grahame, Adolphe Menjou, Richard Boone, screenplay by Robert Sherwood, of Lincoln in Illinois and The Best Years of Our Lives fame...SEE THIS FILM!
supershaman
This is a particularly fine film, but the other users missed an item that I would like to mention.Namely, communism or, rather, the specific type of communism which was practiced within the old Soviet Empire, was a subtle poison to the human spirit.In a critical scene, just before the fatal run across the border, the Circus manager questions a roustabout about his betrayal of his community(the Circus) and everyone whom he ever knew there. This man, with a straight face, announces that he and the other manual laborers are the heart and essence of the circus. Along with the movie audience, the manager(played by veteran actor Frederick March) is shocked that anyone could convince himself that people come to see him and his fellows, not the aerialists, not the lion tamer nor even the clowns.There are no paranoid political rants here, but that form of communism is "busted" for its "divide and conquer" tactics. People took appalling risks to flee communism and this film gives the viewer part of why they were willing to take them. I couldn't imagine then and I can't imagine now that "a higher standard of living" was the reason for this.
AD
