A Major Disappointment

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

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.

Watched "Greatest Show on Earth" 1952 w/Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton & Cornel Wilde. It won Best Picture Oscar in 1952 somehow beating out "High Noon" Don't waste your time! How this flick won best picture is beyond me. Over 1/2 of the movie is filled with filmed Ringling circus acts (though in rich Tecnhicolor!). The weak story is 2nd rate soap opera.

Every one was shocked when THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH won Oscars for Best Motion Picture and Best Screenplay; there was nothing about the film that could be considered "great art." At the same time, however, SHOW was a lot of fun, and certainly audiences of the day flocked to it, making it the single biggest grossing film of 1952.The story is purple-prose soap opera. Circus manager Brad Braden (Charleton Heston) is doing a balancing act between rival arielist stars Sebastian (Cornel Wilde) and Holly (Betty Hutton)--the later of whom is torn in her affections between the two. Add in a lovely but common show girl (Dorothy Lamour), a jealous elephant trainer (Lyle Bettger), the object of his affections (Gloria Graham), a clown with a mysterious past (Jimmy Stewart), high wire accidents, and a train wreck-- all mixed well by Cecil B. DeMille's eye for larger-than-life spectacle. The result is brassy, silly, corny, and thoroughly enjoyable.Seen today, the big attraction here is the chance to see the circus when it was still traveling by rail and performing under "the big top." Filmed with the cooperation of Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey, SHOW allows us to see what was involved in organizing the lavish show that was the circus in the 1950s, a world filled with roustabouts, elephants, barkers, peanut vendors, acrobats, and all the rest. One of the more interesting aspects of this is Emmett Kelly, one of America's greatest clowns, who appears throughout the film as himself.THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH is lots of flash and dazzle, a little song and dance, Charleton Heston in his first major role, Betty Hutton in one of her final films (she did most of her own stunt work), and lots of corny charm. It might not really be the "greatest" show on earth, but it is very picturesque. The film isn't restored, but it isn't in bad condition; sadly, there are no bonuses at all.GFT, Amazon Reviewer

After first watching this on commercial TV 20 years ago, I just viewed this again on DVD just now. This is still pretty entertaining with some of the melodrama and especially that train crash near the end. Musical numbers by Dorothy Lamour-in which a couple of her famous co-stars from other movies make an audience appearance-and Betty Hutton with Jimmy Stewart joining the latter on a trampoline also are fun to watch. And some of the actual circus acts are pretty entertaining though they're better viewed in person than on film. But this is a bit overlong and somewhat old-fashioned and doesn't really deserve the Best Picture Oscar it got for 1952. That should have gone to the really creative Singin' in the Rain which wasn't even nominated in that category (nor was it for writing which TGSOE won for Original Story). Besides the stars I mentioned above, there's also Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, and Gloria Grahame to look forward to. Stewart appears in clown makeup throughout for a reason revealed near the end. Only a photo of him shown on screen has his more-familiar face. And producer-director Cecil B. DeMille's narration may be a little corny, but it still works for me. So on that note, I partially recommend The Greatest Show on Earth. P.S. While this film marked a reunion for a couple of stars from my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart and Gloria Grahame-they hardly have any scenes together and rarely have dialogue between them.