the audience applauded

Good movie but grossly overrated

Admirable film.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Burt Lancaster started his career as a circus acrobat, and in "Trapeze" he gets to play a circus acrobat. This was one of a number of circus- themed films released in the fifties and sixties; others include "The Greatest Show on Earth", "The Big Circus" and "The Magnificent Showman". Lancaster plays Mike Ribble, a former "flyer". This does not mean he is a retired pilot; "flyer" is the name by which trapeze artistes refer to themselves. In his youth Ribble, only the sixth man to have performed the triple somersault, was a major star, but retired after being injured in an accident and now works as a rigger at a circus in Paris.Ribble is tracked down by Tino Orsini, an ambitious, up-and-coming young flyer who believes that he can become the seventh man to achieve the triple and asks Ribble to train him. Ribble, impressed by the young man's potential, agrees, and the two men form an act together, with Ribble acting as Orsini's catcher. Trouble arises, however, when the circus owner wants to add a third member, a young woman named Lola, to their act. Lola is less skilled as a trapeze artiste than either Ribble or Orsini, but she looks good in a skimpy costume so the owner thinks she will be good box-office. When both men fall in love with Lola the resulting tensions threaten to destroy both their act and their friendship.The film did well at the box office, but was not always popular with the critics; Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, for example, called the story "dismally obvious and monotonous" and said that Gina Lollobrigida as Lola "had only her looks to show". There is perhaps some justice in these criticisms. The love-triangle plot is trite and clichéd, and although that circus manager was undoubtedly right that Lollobrigida does indeed look stunning, she is all too obviously struggling with the difficulties of acting in a language not her own. (This was her first American film).In other respects, however, the film is a lot better than Crowther thought it was. Carol Reed is perhaps best remembered today for serious black-and-white dramas, especially films noirs like "The Third Man" and "The Man Between", but he shows there that he was also capable of handling more spectacular, crowd-pleasing entertainment. This is not Burt Lancaster's greatest film, but he gives a very competent performance and even performed some of his own stunts. (The studio, however, insisted on a stunt man for the more dangerous ones). There is a good contrast between the ageing Ribble and Tony Curtis's brash newcomer Orsini. The aerial action sequences remain thrilling nearly sixty years after they were filmed. The circus genre may have declined in popularity in recent decades, but "Trapeze" shows well why such films were popular in their heyday. 7/10

I expected more from a circus flick with top-flight stars like Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Gina Lollabrigida.The fact that a love triangle plays out on the trapeze is mildly interesting, but the story deteriorates into a standard power struggle over the girl between intense, crippled Lancaster and pretty-boy Curtis.Sexy Lollabrigida is memorable mostly for her exaggerated hourglass figure and garish orange lipstick.The movie gives too much ear-time to the braying of elephants and too much screen time to a dull dwarf. (Who cares if he DID grow an inch!?)Definitely deserving of praise are a few exhilarating trapeze scenes that generate true suspense. They aren't substantial enough to recommend this, however.

I'm not sure I really understood this movie. I admired the acrobatics, which were often very impressive. Orsini's conflict between his love for Lollabrigida and his desire to be a great trapeze artist was never really developed, and since Lollabrigida's character is so scheming, it's hard to sympathize with his feelings for her. Lancaster's desire to have a "pure" act, a line repeated over and over in opposition to having a woman in the act, seems strange. (Though never homo erotic. There are lines that, coming from other actors directed differently, could have suggested some sort of homo erotic attraction on Lancaster's character's part, but in this movie there is just no hint of that at all.) As I said, I enjoyed the acrobatics, but the story and the characters left me flat, even though Lancaster is one of my favorite actors.

Enjoyed this great 1956 Classic film starring Burt Lancaster, (Mike Riddle) who gave an outstanding performance as an experienced trapeze artist. In real life, Burt left Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in his second year and decided to join a circus and traveled all around performing on the high wires. As Burt's movie career became successful, he had the opportunity to make this picture which he had longed to do for many years. Burt teams up with Tony Curtis, (Tino Orsini) who gave a great supporting role along with the beautiful Gina Lollobrigida, (Lola) who added her great charm to this picture and had two men fighting over her for her love. Thomas Gomez,(Bouglione) was the circus manager and gave an outstanding performance to his role as a man who ran his circus with an iron fist. This is a great picture with great veteran actors, enjoy.