The Big Circus (1959) (2024)

The Big Circus (1959) (1)

The Big Circus (1959) (2)

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1959

Directed by Joseph M. Newman

Synopsis

Hear the New Song Hit! "THE BIG CIRCUS"

A circus owner tries to keep his financially troubled circus on the road, despite the efforts of a murderous saboteur who has decided that the show must not go on.

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  • Cast
  • Crew
  • Details
  • Genres
  • Releases

Cast

Victor Mature Red Buttons Rhonda Fleming Kathryn Grant Vincent Price Gilbert Roland Peter Lorre David Nelson Adele Mara Howard McNear Charles Watts Steve Allen Kenner G. Kemp

DirectorDirector

Joseph M. Newman

ProducerProducer

WritersWriters

Charles Bennett Irwin Allen Irving Wallace

StoryStory

Irwin Allen

EditorEditor

Adrienne Fazan

CinematographyCinematography

Winton C. Hoch

ComposersComposers

Bert Shefter Paul Sawtell

Studios

Irwin Allen Productions Allied Artists Pictures

Country

USA

Language

English

Alternative Titles

Il grande circo, Le Cirque fantastique, El Gran Circo, Die Welt der Sensationen, El gran circ

Genre

Drama

Releases by Date

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Theatrical

05 Jul 1959
  • The Big Circus (1959) (3)USANR

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The Big Circus (1959) (4)USA
05 Jul 1959
  • TheatricalNR

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  • Review by Joshua Drake ★★★½ 1

    First Time Watching

    A little lengthy at the middle portion by ten minutes, but this little 50s oldie is pretty good for the time being with a good story and solid performances.

    Grade: Epictastic

  • Review by russman ★★½

    That green screen fooled a lot of people

  • Review by kitsunegari101 ★★★

    THE SABOTAGE IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE CIRCUS

    i swear to god vincent price is the only person to look good in jodhpurs ever and only peter lorre could carry off the nickname skeet. i love them both but the theme song makes me want to weep and then die

  • Review by Leavingfilmstrk ★★★½ 2

    Yes, there's some silliness, but it's also very entertaining. I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to. Gilbert Roland probably had the most screen time so, of course, I'm happy. Peter Lorre and Vincent Price probably had the least, but both make the most of their moments.

  • Review by Chloe 3

    Perhaps with a different bunch of actors this would have been interminably bad, but with these guys? So enjoyable! Victor Mature as theimpresario? Vincent Price as the ringmaster? Peter Lorre as chief clown? Gilbert Roland as a trapeze artist? It’s the best darn circus gang there ever was!

    Whilst the film seems to forget it’s meant to be a whodunnit for a solid hour, it’s never boring. The colours are luridly beautiful (although to see those same colours painted on elephants is quite uncomfortable), and the set pieces are - in their goofy, heavily rear-projected way - really fun. I had a blast.

  • Review by Zā ★★

    Came for Price and Lorre... stayed for... well. Sometimes it was pretty to look at?

  • Review by adelaideblair ★★★½

    I, like most sensible people, am not into clowns. Unless they are played by Peter Lorre. Then I am REALLY into them.

  • Review by Rachel ★★★½

    Circus flicks have been hitting the spot lately. There’s something about those colorful sets, jaw-dropping stunts, and life under the big top that keeps me coming back for more. While it’s not the grand spectacle that was DeMille’s THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952), THE BIG CIRCUS remains a decent film in its own right. Both revolve around circus life, mixing melodrama with impressive stunt work and plenty of eye candy. Shot in glorious technicolor, THE BIG CIRCUS stars Victor Mature as the owner of a show trying to stay afloat in changing times. The dialogue ranges from witty one-liners to groan-worthy exclamations of despair. There’s always a calamity around the corner, and when something isn’t on fire or seconds…

  • Review by Brian Burkart ★★★

    Seven years after Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Irwin Allen produced hi own lower budgeted circus film. While DeMille went big with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and a cast of A-list talent, Allen had to make do with a smaller family circus and a cast headlined by Victor Mature and Red Buttons who had signed on to the film before he won an Oscar for "Sayonara."

    This isn't to knock the film. The smaller stakes and less bombastic style work to the films advantage. In fact, I think "The Big Circus" is the better film. A big part of that is the cast. Mature is ideally cast…

  • Review by e🌸 ★★½

    I’d like to personally thank whoever decided to dress Rhonda almost exclusively in blue and neutrals.

    I hate clowns but Peter Lorre as a clown named Skeet was everything I didn’t know I needed. And Vincent Price makes a perfect ringmaster.

  • Review by Michael_Elliott ★★½

    Hank Whirling (Victor Mature) breaks free from his business partner and heads out on the road to build up his own circus. Now with two competing circus acts on the road it seems someone is trying to damage the one by Whirling because various accidents start to happen and soon murder too.

    Years after Cecil B. DeMille's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, producer Irwin Allen decided to make a circus picture but he's give us some behind-the-scenes stuff as well as melodrama but then he'd take it a step further and throw in a murder/mystery. THE BIG CIRCUS is certainly the lesser known of the two films and while there are many flaws in the picture it at least remains…

  • Review by sydney lou who

    this cast is stacked? but sadly it never comes together for me. rhonda fleming is gorgeous though and fun to see as a press agent!

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