I suppose if one is fixated on the idea that this film didn't deserve it's Best Movie Oscar, then it will affect your entire enjoyment of the picture. Maybe what's best is to view this one in a couple of different ways. For it's pure spectacle and color it has few rivals, and the train wreck sequence near the finale was rather impressive, even if the mock-up toy trains were more than evident. If I were to disqualify the picture from it's top award, it would be for the ridiculous attempt at a love story angle between the principals. The romantic pairings bounce off each other like ping pong balls and aren't credible in the least. So there, I've said it and now I've got that out of the way.
The thing I think a lot of the reviewers on this board don't appreciate is the sheer immensity of the effort to put on the Big Show. It was mentioned at one point that the Circus employed fourteen hundred and it took a veritable army of people and equipment to move it from one town to the next. Even the filming of the roustabouts putting up and tearing down the Big Top didn't quite capture the enormity of the task, not to mention the skill and precision required to keep it all in some semblance of order. I could only marvel at the effort.
As for the show itself, I thought the filming did a good job of presenting a huge array of entertainers as they made their way into the Big Top. The costumes were marvelous and the parade of entertainers and animals made you want to be part of the action. Every now and then you had to get a kick out of the expressions on the faces of the customers. Many quite obviously were filmed without their knowing it, as the unbridled happiness and laughter was entirely evident, and I got a particular kick out of youngsters who might have sat expressionless not knowing what to make of it all. Every now and then an unexpected cameo appearance made it's way on screen, Hopalong Cassidy as a one night stand was pretty cool for example. An even better one might have been Hope and Crosby downing their popcorn as Dorothy Lamour did her 'Lovely Luawana Lady' routine.
Regarding the principal players, I thought they did an adequate job apart from the romantic angles I mentioned earlier. It became apparent later in the story why we never saw Jimmy Stewart's real face except in a photo. Personally I thought his character might have been let off the hook after saving Brad Braden's (Heston) life, but you had to consider justice being served. Funny, but you never hear Emmett Kelly's name mentioned any more, he being the sad faced clown who appeared every few scenes. His name used to come up between my friends and I back in the day, along with Bozo and his infamous 'Eat it, Clown' comment that I'm chuckling about as I write this. Yeah, those were the days.
So I don't know if you need to have ever been to a real, live circus to appreciate this picture but I don't think it could hurt. They're few and far between these days, and it seems when they show up there are plenty of free passes to go around, so their allure as an attraction has probably passed. A shame in a way, as watching the picture today brings back memories of a life gone by when families could enjoy the simple things together and have fun doing it. You could see it in the faces of the crowd.
The thing I think a lot of the reviewers on this board don't appreciate is the sheer immensity of the effort to put on the Big Show. It was mentioned at one point that the Circus employed fourteen hundred and it took a veritable army of people and equipment to move it from one town to the next. Even the filming of the roustabouts putting up and tearing down the Big Top didn't quite capture the enormity of the task, not to mention the skill and precision required to keep it all in some semblance of order. I could only marvel at the effort.
As for the show itself, I thought the filming did a good job of presenting a huge array of entertainers as they made their way into the Big Top. The costumes were marvelous and the parade of entertainers and animals made you want to be part of the action. Every now and then you had to get a kick out of the expressions on the faces of the customers. Many quite obviously were filmed without their knowing it, as the unbridled happiness and laughter was entirely evident, and I got a particular kick out of youngsters who might have sat expressionless not knowing what to make of it all. Every now and then an unexpected cameo appearance made it's way on screen, Hopalong Cassidy as a one night stand was pretty cool for example. An even better one might have been Hope and Crosby downing their popcorn as Dorothy Lamour did her 'Lovely Luawana Lady' routine.
Regarding the principal players, I thought they did an adequate job apart from the romantic angles I mentioned earlier. It became apparent later in the story why we never saw Jimmy Stewart's real face except in a photo. Personally I thought his character might have been let off the hook after saving Brad Braden's (Heston) life, but you had to consider justice being served. Funny, but you never hear Emmett Kelly's name mentioned any more, he being the sad faced clown who appeared every few scenes. His name used to come up between my friends and I back in the day, along with Bozo and his infamous 'Eat it, Clown' comment that I'm chuckling about as I write this. Yeah, those were the days.
So I don't know if you need to have ever been to a real, live circus to appreciate this picture but I don't think it could hurt. They're few and far between these days, and it seems when they show up there are plenty of free passes to go around, so their allure as an attraction has probably passed. A shame in a way, as watching the picture today brings back memories of a life gone by when families could enjoy the simple things together and have fun doing it. You could see it in the faces of the crowd.