TRAPEZE (1956)

Having earned his high-watermark of personal bona fides as a ‘serious’ filmmaker thru consecutive Graham Greene collaborations (THE FALLEN IDOL/’48; THE THIRD MAN/’49), British director Carol Reed was critically dinged on this release, slammed for slumming on impersonal entertainment.  But if critics, especially in England, where Reed was considered second only to David Lean, showed snobbery, the public took no notice, making this an enormous international hit, the biggest commercial success of Reed’s career.  Freely developed from its source novel, the story now as simple and direct as a circus act: talented young trapeze flier (Tony Curtis) goes to Paris looking for Burt Lancaster, the one man who can teach him The Triple, the dangerous stunt that ended Lancaster’s career in his prime, leaving him with a bum leg.  (He now works as head rigger in a Paris circus run by Thomas Gomez.)  This budding mentorship soon threatened by ambitious beauty Gina Lollobrigida, attaching herself to a series of partners: a team of acrobats; Burt; now Curtis.  (Her role the one that might have profited with fleshing out.)  Will the act hold as a double?  Will the triple be accomplished?  Will the contract get signed before an American circus moves in?  And what happens when love (as opposed to sex) comes into play?  With less process work than you’ve got toes on one foot, our three leads incredibly game/incredibly fit, seamlessly merged with stunt doubles.  Lancaster a natural with his early circus background; Curtis overcoming a fear of heights; Gina overcoming the centrifugal issues of a curvy figure.  Yikes!  The whole show orchestrated by Reed (and lenser Robert Krasker on their initial CinemaScope/Deluxe Color assignment) for maximum impact.  You can count the spins on The Triple.  All shot in a real 4000 seat one-ring circus.  (Look for the HD remaster, significantly improving on earlier DVD editions.)

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: It's the centennial of film & classical composer Malcolm Arnold (Oscar’d next year for THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI), here with one of the most imaginative of nearly 100 film scores.  A good time to catch up on this fascinating & difficult (bipolar?) man.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZsuYbn8DaE