guanche In some ways this is s standard "formula" mystery. Yet it's a very interesting and off beat film in other respects. A young Mickey Spillane; looking like a near clone of Sean Penn; plays himself as a rather inept detective. The action takes place in the real Clyde Beatty Circus, where a homicidal maniac is on the loose. Clyde Beatty, who also plays himself, was perhaps the most skilled animal trainer of all time and in the 40s and 50s ran his own circus, a serious competitor to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. The best parts of the film (at least from my perspective) were closeups of him performing with lions and tigers, often several at a time. You can actually see the highly specific and technical body poses and behaviors he uses to control multiple animals that would love to tear him to pieces. A fascinating peek into the psyches of large carnivores.Entertaining and quite out of the ordinary.

MartinHafer In the history of bad Academy Award recipients, one that has stood out for me is "The Greatest Show on Earth" (directed by Cecil B. DeMille) winning the Best Picture award. While the film, like any other DeMille film, is BIG, the story itself (which, inexplicably won an Oscar as well) was dreadfully dull and clichéd. According to the wonderful review by bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York, "Ring of Fear" was an attempt by John Wayne's production company to cash in on the success of this 1952 film. However, while "Ring of Fear" is indeed derivative, it is, to me, a bit more entertaining than "The Greatest Show on Earth" for one major reason--the story is entertaining and gritty. Instead of a story about an innocent man hiding from the law dressed up as a clown (Jimmy Stewart), "Ring of Fear" has an escaped murderous schizophrenic hiding within the circus---and killing! Now THAT is gritty and doesn't rely one bit on the pathos of the DeMille film...thank goodness. Now this isn't saying that I loved "Ring of Fear'--just that it was fun to watch.While I usually hate circus films, I decided to watch this film because of its very unusual job of casting. Clyde Beatty (practically an unknown man today--but quite famous in the 1940s and 50s) is a start in the film and was a rival to the Ringling Brothers circus and made his fame as a lion tamer. Additionally, Mickey Spillane (yes, THE Mickey Spillane) is on hand to play himself just like Beatty did--though why a guy who wrote the Mike Hammer books is in the film is anyone's guess. He certainly wasn't trained to investigate crimes, so he does what any writer in this situation would do--hire a professional to do this! In addition to these two, the film also stars Pat O'Brien who'd been through some pretty lean years following WWII--with fewer and fewer chances to act. While O'Brien was never a very subtle actor, he was enjoyable and lent some class to the film. While "The Greatest Show on Earth" sported more big-name actors like Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton and Cornell Wilde, it featured lots of actors--not the real life acts like you see in this film--another plus in "Ring of Fear".Overall, while this film is not a great film, the murderer is cool to watch (this psycho has style!) and the film never reaches the heights of extreme boredom I felt in the DeMille epic. It's worth seeing, but for my money if you must see a film about circuses, try Chaplin's "The Circus" first!

zardoz-13 Circus movies appeared by the dozens in the 1950s. Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" was the first in 1952 with Charlton Heston and James Stewart. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis co-starred in "Three Ring Circus" in 1954. Steve Cochran and Lyle Bettger fought over Anne Baxter in "Carnival Act." in 1954. Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis handled the high wire acts in "Trapeze" in 1956. John Wayne's production company Batjac must have decided to jump on the bandwagon in the middle of this fad with "Angel and the Badman" director James Edward Grant's "Ring of Fear," starring Clyde Beatty, Mickey Spillane, and Pat O'Brien. Interestingly enough, the Duke got under the big top about ten years later in Henry Hathaway's "Circus World." Anyway, this 1954, Cinemascope lensed, 93-minute, Warner color epic serves more as publicity for Clyde Beatty's Circus and author Mickey Spillane's novels than as a big-screen melodrama about the big-top. Indeed, "Ring of Fear" scores points for authenticity because it takes place in a genuine circus. Moreover, Clyde Beatty was a real-life, world renowned animal trainer, and he has appeared as early before the cameras in 1933 in "The Big Cage" and most recently in a B-movie "Perils of the Jungle" in 1954. Character actor Paul Fix of "The Rifleman," scenarist Phillip MacDonald of "The Body Snatcher," director James Edward Grant and an uncredited Mickey Spillane penned this predictable but entertaining melodrama about a clever, elusive homicidal maniac who does his best to sabotage the Clyde Beatty Circus, while two celebrity sleuths—Mickey Spillane and Jack Strang—on the premises try to expose him. Everything starts with an inmate at the State Mental Institution held in maximum security called Dublin O'Malley (Sean McClory of "Plunder of the Sun") who cannot open his mouth without lying about himself. O'Malley is attached to a photo of an aerial trapeze beauty that once loved him and is obsesses over his loss of her love. Three psychiatrists diagnose O'Malley as a hopeless case with homicidal tendencies who should never re-enter the real world. No sooner has the unrepentant O'Malley left the conference room with the psychiatrists than he overpowers a guard, steals a truck, and careens off the premises with an all points police bulletin flashed out. O'Malley ditches the truck near the railroad and catches a ride on a freight train. He befriends a rail worker and then overpowers him. He swaps apparel with the railway worker and throws his unfortunate victim into the path of an oncoming train. No, you don't see the guy's body ground into hamburger by the train, but he died wearing O'Malley's clothing so that everybody believes that Dublin has bitten the dust! In just this short length of time, "Ring of Fear" is on the right track with a deadly, charismatic villain and Sean McClory—despite claims to the contrary that he chews the scenery—steals the show with his edgy but urban performance. The character of Dublin O'Malley overshadows all other characters in the movie.Once upon a time Dublin O'Malley worked for Clyde Beatty and his circus. Beatty saved O'Malley's life when the big cats nearly ate him and everybody laughed at O'Malley and his close scrape with death. Humiliated by the incident, O'Malley has held a grudge against the world famous lion tamer since then, but Beatty doesn't know it. O'Malley left the Beatty circus after an affair with an aerialist, Valerie (Marian Carr of "Kiss Me Deadly") went sour and she married another trapeze artist, Armand St. Dennis (John Bromfield of "Manfish"), known for his fits of jealousy. When O'Malley returns to the circus, he contacts his old, alcoholic friend Twitchy (Emmett Lynn of "The Robe") and buys him a bottle. He tells Twitchy to tell anybody that he has seen him. O'Malley tampers with the tiger cage and a tiger gets out and circus manager (Pat O'Brien of "Angels with Dirty Faces") has to kill the $10-thousand tiger. O'Malley blackmails Twitchy into helping him because Twitchy has a secret that would land him on Death Row if the authorities ever found out about it. They soak Clyde's training ropes and a big cat breaks the rope and nearly kills Clyde. Before long everybody with the Clyde Beatty Circus is whispering about the 'jinx' on the circus. About that time, detective novelist Mickey Spillane shows up and not long afterward Jack Strang appears.Again, Dublin O'Malley is the most interesting character in "Ring of Fear." The performances are about what you would expect from the celebrities involved. Clyde Beatty delivers his lines, doesn't bump into the lions, and isn't afraid to turn his back to the camera. In fact, Beatty spends most of his time with his back to the camera cracking his whip at the lions and tigers. Everybody else stands around and discusses matters. The ever-vigilant Spillane and Strang are around when O'Malley has his first fight with Armand. Later, O'Malley makes Twitchy sabotage Armand's high wire act, but Armand survives the murder attempt. Poor Twitchy decides to inform on O'Malley, but he doesn't understand the depth of O'Malley's hate for Clyde Beatty. Pat O'Brien stands around and delivers lines, too, with no special significance. Of course, Batjac stock company player Pedro Gonzales Gonzalez-Gonzales is on hand for the inevitable comic relief. For example, he loses a box match with a kangaroo. The closest thing to a love interest is Marion Carr's Valerie, but she is already married and tries to fend off O'Malley. O'Malley's demise in a railway freight car at the end of the movie is his just comeuppance for his crimes."Ring of Fear" qualifies as an above-average thriller with a top-notch performance from Sean McClory as the villain. Spillane, Strang, and Beatty register as colorless heroes.

Michael_Elliott Ring of Fear (1954) * 1/2 (out of 4) Weird blend of action and horror as a maniac gets loose in Clyde Beatty's circus and soon bodies are starting to pile up so the manager (Pat O'Brien) calls in writer Mickey Spillane to solve the case. Both Beatty and Spillane play themselves and both give an equally bad performance, which I guess is to be expected. Spillane is really, really bad but at least he gave us some great stories in his real job. The film's only real highlights are the scenes with Beatty trying to tame a wild lion. These scenes here are pretty exciting but they work against the so called mystery that's suppose to be going on and at times it seems the mystery is completely forgotten about. O'Brien comes off pretty good but he's not given a lot to do. The 2.55:1 aspect ratio makes for some good circus scenes but for the most part this thing is dead on arrival.