rekcilorf I have never understood how Heston and the circus bosses did not know about the extent of Sebastion's injury. You have to think with so much invested in his presence at the show, they would have kept careful tabs on his progress. The circus must have had some kind of insurance for him as well.Still, this movie is a great deal of fun.

JohnHowardReid Unsuitable for younger children. A few stand-alone critics also claimed the film was unsuitable for adults as well, but the general consensus was highly favorable. COMMENT: Saw it twice when it first came out. Loved it! Was not so impressed, however, when I saw the movie on TV. This time, I was a bit bored with the slow-moving and somewhat juvenile old-hat drama on the ground with its familiar clichés and its earnest but not very engaging acting from such folk as Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde (complete with funny accent) and Charlton Heston. Indeed, aside from James Stewart who remains disguised as a clown throughout and Gloria Grahame who has the sort of sulky, vampy role she can excel in, the players did little to transform the sawdust dross of familiar big- top romance into believable or emotionally involving gold.And some of my favorite players had virtually nothing to do. Poor Dorothy Lamour didn't have much of a part to begin with, but in the TV print, she is just background decoration. Although she still sings the song, "Luawana Lady", her high-rope teeth act has been eliminated! Emmett Kelly also hovers around but has only a few bits of business (mainly he's a support for James Stewart). And he has exactly one word of dialogue, "Parade?"Still, all the romance is just really the stuff between the circus acts (oddly enough, more attention seems to be given to parades and musical numbers than to the traditional circus feats of juggling, acrobatics and animal dexterity — the circus has lions for example but no lion tamer or tricks) and the extended high wire and trapeze episodes above ground where the film really takes off. Hutton and Wilde are obviously doing some of their own stunts, although even a child would notice that they are doubled in the long shots and the very effectively staged episode when Wilde has his accident.When I was young I was also very impressed with the train wreck but now it is obvious to me that it was staged with models — still effectively put across though.With trimming you could salvage both a very-fast-moving and interesting if superficial circus feature and a fairly interesting – if weighed down with a somewhat overblown commentary spoken by Cecil B. himself – documentary short. "The Greatest Show On Earth" is really two films not very expertly grafted together (notice how often wipes have been used to join jump-cuts) and with sharp differences between the studio photography of Marley and Barnes and the circus documentary footage shot by Wallace Kelley.AVAILABLE on a superb Paramount DVD.

digitalbeachbum I went to the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus three times in my life. I saw it twice when I was much younger then one more time when I was an adult. I had seen this movie three times before also and always thought it was a good movie. I also have been to the Ringling Bros. Museum in Sarasota.This is a grand movie for its time. It is a gigantic, costly production, much like Ben-Hur or Cleopatra. There are literally thousands of cast members who are in the movie, but are real life Ringling Bros. or some other circus performers. It is amazing to see them work together to put on such a grand performance.The movie is filled with drama, love triangles, jealousy, accidents and conflict. It shows the real life life of how a circus functions all wrapped up in a 152 minutes of run-time. It has one of the most complex productions I know of since Gone with the Wind.However, the movie does not show the dirty side of the circus. While it is all fun and games for the townsfolk who come to see the circus, this move lacks the fundamental truth. It does touch on a little bit of the evils of these circuses, Cecil B. DeMille keeps the viewer from becoming frightened of the circus.Charleston Heston plays the lead role of Brad Braden who is the circus manager. Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, James Stewart, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame, Lyle Bettger all play supporting cast members. If you watch the opening credits you see several hundred "acts' being given credit for their performances.As time passes, this movie loses its flavor. I dislike it for what it represents in the story, but support it for the amazing production.

gavin6942 The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer against a background of circus spectacle.These days (2015), circuses have fallen out of favor. Kids are not as interested in them as they used to be, and they have taken on a lot of criticism from animal rights groups. (And, you know, some of that criticism is more than fair.) I have to have a little bit of pride in the circus, though, especially the one focused on here: Ringling. These guys came from Baraboo, Wisconsin and until relatively recently have kept that as their headquarters. This is barely more than an hour from home for me, so circus history is something very local.