1952: The Greatest Show On Earth

The Greatest Show On Earth (DeMille, 1952) 3/10

"This is not the history of the circus...We will tell the story of the circus and its people in relation to all other people" (Cecil B. DeMille)

The traditional circus is a dying art form. With its roots in ancient Rome, the circus evolved into its archetypal format in the late 18th century in imperial Britain. With the British Empire expanding its reach across the globe, alluring foreign goods and art forms were imported into Northern Europe from central Asia and Africa. Along with silks and spices, there also arrived wild animals such as elephants and lions, as well as human performers such as acrobats. Whereas previously these types of acts and animals would be restricted to royal courts and menageries, by the late 19th century the circus offered these rarely seen specimens to a larger audience.

In the immediate postwar era, the circus still held a brand of exoticism and showmanship that ordinary people would rarely be able to afford to experience otherwise. In the days before relatively affordable long-distance travel, nature channels or publicized animal and human rights groups, the circus was a travelling medium that provided access to beasts and performers to thousands in small and mid-sized communities, who were unable to see such things outside of the local Bijou, or perhaps a local zoo. In the mid-80's, the circus became intellectualized through the highbrow performance art of Quebecois group Cirque de Soleil and thus much of its vaudevillian humour and humiliated animal spectacles disappeared along with the miles of sawdust and carnival atmosphere.

Yet, prior to the early Sixties, film still had a great affinity for the circus. In 1941 alone there were three circus films: Disney's animated classic Dumbo, the noirish Humphrey Bogart vehicle Wagons Roll At Night and Road Show. In 1928, Charlie Chaplin's second feature The Circus was released, which evidently inspired Federico Fellini's 1954 film La Strada. Fellini would also direct another circus-based film The Clowns, while fellow European director Ingmar Bergman would direct 1953's Sawdust and Tinsel. In 1932 Tod Browning focused on Freaks and in 1936, the Marx Brothers were At The Circus. Both Elia Kazan in 1953 and Carol Reed in 1956 directed films about acrobats: former acrobat Burt Lancaster flew high in Carol Reed's Trapeze, while Frederic March dangled as the Man on a Tightrope. Even into the 1960's, the circus was still popular in film as noted by the success of 1962's Billy Rose's Jumbo and 1964's Circus World .

Yet, perhaps the most bombastic and notorious of all circus films is Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 Academy Award winning film The Greatest Show On Earth. Alongside 1930's Cimmaron and 1956's Around The World in 80 Days , The Greatest Show On Earth is annually judged by critics as one of the most undeserving Best Picture winners of all time. Although their assertion is justified, it should be noted that 1952 was not exactly a watershed year in Hollywood. Films such as John Ford's homage to Ireland The Quiet Man, George Cukor's Hepburn-Tracy film Pat and Mike, Vincent Minnelli's The Bad and The Beautiful and Fred Zinneman's liberal western High Noon are some of the more notable exceptions to a year, which was arguably overshadowed by better fare from overseas such as Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru, Anthony Asquith's adaptation of The Importance Of Being Earnest, Rene Clement's Forbidden Games, Vittorio de Sica's Umberto D and Orson Welles' Othello.

Contemporary scholarly debates on The Greatest Show On Earth's dubious acquisition of 1952's Best Picture award tend to primarily focus on DeMille's legacy in Hollywood as the creator and distributor of tawdry, oversized and racist films such as Cleopatra, Union Pacific and The Cheat. And therefore like John Wayne in True Grit, DeMille was bestowed the award based on his lifetime achievements in Hollywood, rather than for the actual quality of his 1952 effort. Yet, this angle of the debate seems to neglect two important alternative components. First, America was still gripped by McCarthyism and thus The Greatest Show On Earth with its conservative messages and emphasis on family entertainment was a much safer choice than the rabble-rousing anti-McCarthyist High Noon or the feminist tendencies of Pat and Mike. Furthermore, the Academy has generally been a conservative organization by nature, which champions its longest-serving allies. Thus, it would hardly make sense for the Academy to bestow an award on Vincent Minnelli for his acidic take on Hollywood in The Bad and The Beautiful when The Greatest Show On Earth characterized all the salient details of bloated spectacle the Academy prefers.

The film stars Betty Hutton as Holly, a trapeze artist whose position is threatened by the acquisition of the erratic and reckless The Great Sebastian (Cornel Wilde). Noted for his playboy lifestyle and willingness to take unnecessary risks, Sebastian is hired by circus manager Brad Braden (Charlton Heston) as a method to prop up the circus' dwindling audiences. Desperate for the stoic Brad's affection, Holly begins to take increasing risks in the air which ironically flutter the heart of the lusty Sebastian, rather than Brad; while in the film's other romantic triangle "Elephant Girl" Angel (Gloria Grahame) also attempts to endear herself to Brad, but is stalked by her co-worker Klaus (Lyle Bettiger) a sadistic elephant trainer. The film also stars James Stewart as Buttons, a mysterious clown who refuses to take off his make-up, while tough-guy Lawrence Tierney, DeMille mainstay Henry Wilkcoxon and an endless parade of real-life clowns such as Emmett Kellly also star in underwritten roles which are haphazardly strewn throughout the film's narrative.

In 1952, DeMille was virtually untouchable with critics and audiences. His films raked in millions at the box-office and won acclaim from critics of the period. With the rise of professional film criticism in France in the 1950's, DeMille's films have since lost their lustre as audience tastes and retrospective responses have changed. Today, audiences are more likely to be endeared to the caustic brutality of Billy Wilder, whose films such as Sunset Boulevard and Ace In The Hole were deemed vulgar and tasteless at the time. Thus, it is perhaps with bitter irony that the title for DeMille's picture was rumoured to have been given to him by a befuddled Billy Wilder, whose tepid response to viewing the film on Paramount's lot was to cautiously chime "You certainly have created The Greatest Show On Earth."

It is also interesting to note that prior to DeMille's involvement, another figure with a taste for epic spectacle, Gone With The Wind producer David O. Selznick was desperate to produce a project about the circus. Such was DeMille's stature in Hollywood at the time, The Greatest Show On Earth became the project that the stars of the day wanted to work on in 1952. In an attempt to ward off prospective rivals such as Marlene Dietrich and Hedy Lamarr, Betty Hutton was rumoured to have sent DeMille a flower arrangment worth a $1000 dollars; James Stewart, at the height of his critical and commercial popularity, contacted DeMille immediately to plead for the film's most psychologically complex role of Buttons, despite the fact it is one of the film's smaller roles. Real-life acraphobe Cornel Wilde put his fears aside in order to play the high flying Sebastian, while a virtually unknown Charlton Heston was made a star overnight.

Yet for all its star power and visual pomp and pagentry, the film is awfully hollow. Of its 154 minute running time, nearly two-thirds is dedicated to documentary-style circus footage augmenting the film's rickety narrative. The thin nature of this interior scaffolding is too frail to bolster the film's lavish tastes and brash drapery. In relation to the film's lack of psychological and intellectual depth, it should come to no surprise that DeMille advocated for the creation of a screenplay that could be comprehended and understood by his eight year old grandson. Furthermore, DeMille's expensive acquistion of the rights to use the name and imagery associated with the medium's most famous circus- Ringling Bros.- and his emphasis on showing circus performances through a static lens evokes the idea that perhaps DeMille's intention was simply to bring the circus to the masses: to those people for whom the travelling circus never visited. Thus, for the price of admission, audiences were obtaining access to both an abridged love story and a full circus perfomance.

DeMille's idea of exposing the backstage realities of an art form was not something new in Hollywood; after all Billy Wilder and Joseph Mankiewicz had respectively both looked at the behind closed doors antics of Hollywood and the theatre two years prior in Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve. What is notable about DeMille's film, however is that The Greatest Show On Earth represents a long-standing belief in Hollywood that celebrity and visual spectacle can compensate for a convoluted narrative. The "to-end-all" genre films of the early Sixties such as How The West Was Won and It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World are classic Hollywood examples, while 2005 Best Picture Winner Crash is a contemporary example.

The concepts most intriguing to DeMille are those embodying authority, gender and power. As Brad Braden, Charlton Heston with his stern mannerism and sawdust filled heart fulfills his role as a masculine authority figure. Like Moses (ironically also portrayed by Heston) in The Ten Commandments Brad refuses to let romance or personal relationships stand in the way of his purpose. His quest is simply to keep the circus in the black and to ensure the safety and quality of his performers. He thus represents the type of man, DeMille would have been accustomed to in his youth: a character ripped out of a Boys Own magazine who refuses to let others sway him from his chosen objectives. Thus, if for Howard Hawks masculinity is categorized by your profession, for DeMille genuine masculinity correlates to your ability to fuflill your gender role within your profession through a socially conservative approach to life.

And thus while James Stewart's Buttons hides his masculinity behind his painted visage, Klaus represents a violent masculinity and Cornel Wilde displays an impression of hyper-masculinity through his endeavours of courage and the flesh, they each do not represent the essence of masculinity that Brad evokes in his apparent coldness. Each are too irresponsible in their own way (Buttons with his past actions; Sebastian and Klaus with their present) to delienate the type of assured authority Brad addresses, nor do they bear any genuine responsibility for their actions until the film's denouement.

As in other DeMille pictures, women are portrayed as either lusty tempresses or pervayers of morality. Yet, The Greatest Show On Earth in accordance with other aspects of 1950's popular culture displays mixed messages about the role of women in society. On the one hand, the female performers are lauded for their individual craft and skill, yet conversely they are shown as requiring a man and a steady relationship to fulfill their femininity. When the Great Sebastian arrives Holly is downgraded from the center ring, yet rather than voluntarily giving up her position, she instead fights for her right to compete alongside Sebastian. Notably, her reasons for fighting back are not for the benefit of her art, but rather to force Brad into a jealous fit, which will result in their marriage. Similarly, Gloria Grahame's "Elephant Girl" Angel resists the overtures of her masochistic boss Klaus for Brad's love; but like the annoying Holly, her means are to advance a romantic relationship.

Heston's evocation of masculinity is also found in his "never-quit" spirit. Throughout the film, he refuses to acquiesce to the dilemmas which threaten the circus such as dwindling profits, Klaus' sadistic methods, a near-mortal injury to Sebastian or a costly train derailment. DeMille's emphasis on the mechanics of the circus through footage showing the construction of the big top and the loading of equipment and animals onto trains relates to this idea of strict quasi-militaristic regimentation that Brad earnestly strives for. The utilization of military language and overtones in his voiceover shows the circus as a contemporary army of capitalism: expressing the individuality of performance, educating Americans about other cultures and providing an antithesis to the highbrow gymnastics finessed by the Moscow Circus, which ironically would later be popularized in North America by Cirque de Soleil.

Unlike in his superior remake of The Ten Commandments four years later, DeMille's voiceover seems more condescending than authoritative: a relic from an era of Victorian ideals of power, showmanship and regality. Furthermore, the film's performances are equally patronizing. The German-born Klaus is overtly related to Fascism in his attire and mannerisms; Gloria Grahame is a boorish Big Top Ann Landers; Cornel Wilde's Great Sebastian is a nascent French ham; Charlton Heston's Brad has about as much personality and warmth as an ice cube; Betty Hutton's Holly is a loud and acrimonious flirt; Lawrence Tierney's character is completely unneccessary; James Stewart's Buttons is drenched in overt mystery and is not funny, while the film's best and funniest character, the famous clown Emmett Kelly is completely wasted by DeMille's excessive nature.

For all its faults, the potential for success is engrained into The Greatest Show On Earth. With its fugitive on the run sub-plot and its romantic love triangles, the material is there. The sympathetic light shone on James Stewart's Buttons and his past is an intriguing angle that is never exploited for maximum impact. But rather than exploit the material or his thematic approaches, DeMille concentrates on the vividness of the circus. Drowning within this almost three hour swollen mammoth is a skinny eighty minute melodrama that is not particularly memorable or thrilling: the lethargic presentation and monotonous delivery by Bob Carson's Ringmaster is quite possibly the best evidence for this argument. Additionally one has to wonder whether DeMille intended the trainwreck to be a metaphor for the entire film itself.

A spectacular failure.

* The Greatest Show On Earth is available through Paramount Home Video

Copyright 2007 8½ Cinematheque