While filming this movie, Cecil B. DeMille presented Betty Hutton with the Photoplay Award for favorite actress of 1950 for Annie Get Your Gun (1950). We can only hope a 4K UHD edition ofThe Greatest Show on Earthwill come down the pike in the next few years, so Paramount can right these glaring wrongs. When Brad is checking the baby gorillas after learning they may have contracted the mumps, a crowd of onlookers is gathered right behind, plainly staring at the camera filming the scene. Recommended. One inch scale Hudson built by L.E. Several months later, Sebastian rejoins the show, but his right arm is paralyzed. This film is listed among The 100 Most Amusingly Bad Moves Ever Made in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE MOVIE GUIDE. At the 25th Academy Awards, the movie won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Story and received nominations for Best Director, Best Film Editing and Best Costume Design, Color. Perhaps our readers who saw this movie will remember the locomotive that crashed the rear of the stalled show train with sufficient power to thoroughly wreck about ten cars before turning over on its side. 5302 saw quite a bit of service until 1940 when it went into storage while I explored the work possibilities of Chicago for two years and then off to California. Be the first to contribute! FBI Special Agent Gregory joins the second of the two circus trains, hunting for the mercy killer; however, Brad does not recognize the photo of Buttons without makeup. [17], On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 49% from 43 reviews with the consensus: "The Greatest Show on Earth is melodramatic, short on plot, excessively lengthy and bogged down with cliches, but not without a certain innocent charm."[18]. Conspicuous mention is made of the circus tent's fireproof quality. This overripe melodrama purports to be life inside the Ringling Brothers Circus; maybe it's not, but the circus ought to be like this. One of the last Best Picture winners to make its Blu-ray debut, The Greatest Show on Earthmight not deserve its Oscar laurels, but director Cecil B. DeMille's grandiose behind-the scenes look at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has wowed audiences for decades. "[16], In 2005, The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst included The Greatest Show on Earth. [9] It was also the most popular film in Britain in 1952[10] and the most popular film of the year in France in 1953. The Greatest Show on Earth won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Story. North was a nephew of the five Ringling brothers who founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and was its owner at the time. The Greatest Show on Earth Videos (Movie) . Oscar's first serious girlfriend was Florence Balcombe who dumped him for Bram Stoker. The great showman Cecil B. DeMille produced and directed this splashy, colorful look at life under the big top. vertical_align_top. However, Tierney . Grahame was in the midst of what would be the most productive period of her career; in addition to her ongoing film noir roles in films like Sudden Fear (1952), she also dazzled critics with her work in MGM's The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). Love him or hate him, DeMille was a driving creative force during Hollywood's formative years and beyond, as well as a disciple of the bigger-is-better school of moviemaking. Free shipping for many products! See terms. Recommended. On 14 January 2017, Feld Entertainment -- the owner of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus -- announced that they were ceasing operations of the circus after 146 years, due to declining attendance. Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth is a lavish tribute to circuses, featuring three intertwining plotlines concerning romance and rivalry beneath the big top. Smith driving 1 inch scale 4-8-4 Number 4203 at Griffith Park. The train wreck is obviously done with models but it is so well done, it rates mention. Pictured left to right: Lane Chandler, Cornel Wilde, James Stewart, Betty Hutton, Charlton Heston, John Ridgely and Gloria Grahame. There is a scene near the end of the movie where Brad is critically injured in the train wreck, and needs a transfusion. Here you will find unforgettable moments, scenes and lines from all your favorite films. Trail wreck sequence from "The Greatest Show On Earth", 1952. This engine was my creation, being built from the tracks up, through the paper work of the design through my own patterns and castings poured from metal melted in a furnace made from an old hot water tank lined with fire brick and using an old vacuum cleaner for the air blast. Wilde was game, however, and ended up performing many of his own stunts on the flying trapeze. The role of Buttons the Clown is inarguably one of the finest portrayals in James Stewart's canon, as it required the versatility of broad slapstick, singing, trampoline work, as well as a dual believability at different points of the script as both a clown and a fine doctor, which merge simultaneously in the chilling, heart-wrenching moment the clown shares with his mother in the audience mid-performance. The Greatest Show on Earth won Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Story. films. Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth is a lavish tribute to circuses, featuring three intertwining plotlines concerning romance and rivalry beneath the big top. By Posterize ANZ. Paramount's spectacular makeover of DeMille'sThe Ten Commandmentsis absolutely spotless, so whythe studio didn't go the extra mile to fashion a pristine image for The Greatest Show on Earthboggles the mind. The greatest Show On Earth The greatest Show On Earth. The simians were so frightened of the lions and tigers that they panicked and fled the building, ending up in the adjoining Hollywood Cemetery. The presentation was filmed and shown on a newsreel. While a multi-channel mix would really put us in the thick of the action, this potent 2.0 mono track more than suffices. The real John Ringling North, president of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, is shown early in the film discussing the financial woes of operating the circus for a full-season. The film premiered at the Florida Theater (now the Sarasota Opera House) in Sarasota, Florida. All that aside, the rest of the transfer elements are impressive. By RyMotif. Merrill Reese: Circus spectator. DeMille is one of the few producers who can still pursue Hollywood's He also depicts the mesmerized, popcorn-chomping patrons, a few of whom are Hollywood stars (look for Bing Crosby and Bob Hope enraptured by their Roadfilms co-star Dorothy Lamour as she performs a song), and provides more than a taste of many of the thrilling and garish acts that perform in the iconic three rings under the gargantuan Big Top tent. Holly accepts her demotion, but vows to steer attention away from Sebastian during the shows, inciting a rivalry that inspires both divas to attempt more dangerous stunts, much to Brad's horror and chagrin. A true restoration not only yields a sharp, balanced picture that bursts with brilliant hues, it also boasts an image that's free of any age-related wear-and-tear. Finally in November, 1942 I had all 450 pounds of it shipped to my home, now in sunny California, where it was set up in El Monte. Brad, who runs a clean show, catches crooked midway concessionaire Harry cheating the customers. Greatest Show On Earth (DVD) Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth is a lavish tribute to cir cuses, featuring three intertwining plotlines concerning rom ance and ri valry beneath the big top. Brad promotes the idea of hiring top-flight French trapeze artist The Great Sebastian (Cornel Wilde) to boost ticket sales, but that means bumping his aerialist girlfriend Holly (Betty Hutton) out of the coveted center ring. Smith driving 1 inch scale 4-8-4 Number 4203 at Griffith Park. Paulette Goddard also campaigned strongly for the role but was turned down owing to her reluctance to perform stunt scenes. Buttons tends to him before the ambulance comes, impressing the circus' doctor. Brad reluctantly tells Holly, his aerialist girlfriend, that she will no longer be the star. He casually observes that Gregory will be taking fingerprints at the next stop, so Buttons can escape and lay low if he wishes. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb Edit The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Cecil B. DeMille Writing Credits Cast (in credits order) verified as complete Produced by Music by Victor Young . "Paramount will hit its greatest production stride since the war in the first two months of 1951, with seven films slated to go before the cameras in a sixty-day period. All rights reserved. [27], Newsreel Betty Hutton Receives Photoplay Award (1951), Interview with Steven Spielberg, Mark Kermode, BBC Culture Show, broadcast 2006-11-04, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" Voted Worst Oscar Winner", Oscar Robbery: 10 Controversial Best-Picture Races, "Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com WENN 1 March 2006", "Steven Spielberg's the Fabelmans Hits Close to Home", Bridgeport, Connecticut, Centennial half dollar, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Drama, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Greatest_Show_on_Earth_(film)&oldid=1130404634, Films that won the Academy Award for Best Story, Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Globe, Rotten Tomatoes template using name parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Charmienne Harker as Charmienne (uncredited), This page was last edited on 30 December 2022, at 00:56. Of course, the circus acts were NOT done with special effects and are very entertaining. (1955) three years later. They were built so that they would crumple realistically during the crash. yes.i cant think of anything to say right now.so watch ittwitter: @lelguy21instagram: trainzkid939 So yes, C.B. L.E. The Greatest Show on Earth is a Cecil B. DeMille extravaganza, maybe the best one he ever produced and directed. It has been suggested that this film won the Best Picture award by default because many members of the Academy were reluctant to vote for the anti-Joseph McCarthy western High Noon (1952), whose screenwriter Carl Foreman had just been blacklisted. However, this account has been disputed because when DeMille was filming with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Ball was preparing I Love Lucy for its launch on CBS. To make the movie more realistic, DeMille demanded his cast become proficient at the various disciplines they'd be performing. Wilde turned it down, saying that both the role and the salary were too small. [4] William Boyd appears in his usual guise of Hopalong Cassidy. Arnaz felt that the film was so bad it would get little or no play in theaters and wouldn't harm her career. [Phyllis is having her hair washed by Birdie as heart-throb Sebastian approaches;]. L.E. It also won Golden Globe Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Director and Best Motion Picture Drama. Buttons quotes Oscar Wilde's 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'. Greatest show on earth boyband Classic T-Shirt. is now available on Blu-Ray (and Digital HD) for the very first time with one new bonus feature and in a neat fold-out cardboard slip packaging.. Cecil B. DeMille did not tolerate background noise of any kind during filming and would often banish extras or crew from the set for disrupting filming. The Greatest Show on Earth The Greatest Show on Earth Item #: CE7272. In his autobiography, Charlton Heston says that when an actor arrived late on the set, as Betty Hutton had a couple of times, Cecil B De Mille blamed the make up department, publicly denouncing them for the actor's late arrival. The only extra on the disc is a new eight-minute featurette presented in high definition. Photo by Linda Braun. The Simon of Cyrene role in the earlier DeMille production had contributed enormously to Boyd's film career. Smith, shown here with his son Robert, 1940. Stanley Kramer alleged that the film's Best Picture Oscar was the result of the political climate in Hollywood in 1952. The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille,[2] shot in Technicolor and released by Paramount Pictures. Stewart's tender performance should have nabbed an Oscar nod, but most likely his lofty star stature kept him out of the "lowly" supporting category. A Hollywood legend, DeMille's best work had been done during the silent film era, before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was established. Floor Jansen The Greatest Show On Earth Sticker. Tap "Sign me up" below to receive our weekly newsletter Trouble is also brewing for beloved Buttons the Clown, who never appears without his makeup and seems to possess medical knowledge. Phyllis: Why is it whenever he's around I'm all wet? He drives the automobile head-on toward the second train in an attempt to prevent the two trains from colliding. elephants, and an action-packed train wreck of a finale, is DeMille at his grandiose best. The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer are told against a background of circus spectacle. Boy, was I wrong! The trains used in the train wreck scene were elaborate models. $25.13. . Holly takes command of the show, mounting a parade that leads the whole nearby town to an open-air performance. 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