Failing American circus goes to post-WWII Germany for a reboot in this mid-weight indie pic from budget conscious producers King Brothers, gleaning off C.B. DeMille’s bg-ticket Oscar-winner THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH/’52. Directed by Kurt Neumann (times 2; there’s also a Euro-cast version, CIRCUS OF LOVE), the intriguing idea of how the two cultures differ (national culture and circus culture) is largely dropped, replaced by a less original romantic quadrangle when talent manager Steve Cochran spots Anne Baxter stealing his wallet to get food in the midway and gets her kitchen work in exchange for a little action. The film unusually frank on their relationship and on Cochran’s physical & mental domination. Next, daredevil diver Lyle Bettger (the main villain in GREATEST SHOW) takes her on as apprentice diver and for a while she splits her time between bed with Cochran and a water tank with Bettger, Baxter a natural from a six-storey high ladder. Yikes! Next guy up is Bettger’s WWII photographer pal George Nader, always on the hunt for a magazine article, especially a pretty one. That makes two nice guys and one heel (Cochran), on the make, while Baxter, drawn to abuse after post-war life on the streets, can't shake Cochran. A couple of marriage proposals, a sabotaged act, a missed trick, a jealous gal in tights, the usual circus tropes, but with a masochistic Euro-slant. Too bad director Neumann is no UFA stylist.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: The sharp-edged TechniColor seen in DeMille’s GREATEST SHOW quite a contrast to what we can currently see here in Ernst Haller’s unrestored AgfaColor lensing. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-greatest-show-on-earth-1952.html
SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: A bit of slumming for Baxter? This film surrounded by roles for Alfred Hitchcock, Fritz Lang and DeMille. (Lang would have been just the guy for this one.)
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