The Greatest Show on Earth

The Greatest Show on Earth

About

A great big lumpen mass of a movie that won a couple of Oscars (including one for Best Picture) and is studded with stars, but ultimately collapses under the weight of the clichés it carries round with it. Heston is the tough-talking square-jawed circus boss; Stewart is the mysterious clown whose make-up hides a terrible secret; Hutton and Lamour provide the sex appeal; and when you throw in a train wreck complete with marauding elephants and prowling pussycats, you've got about as much spectacle as any film needs.

Cast & Connections

Actor: Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Gloria Grahame, James Stewart, Cornel Wilde, Dorothy Lamour
Director: Cecil B DeMille
Writer: Barré Lyndon, Fredric M Frank, Theodore St John
Producer: Cecil B DeMille
Photographer: W Wallace Kelley, Peverell Marley, George Barnes

In a nutshell

It's overblown, unconvincing melodrama and may leave you wishing for some sawdust to spit into.

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