Wanna be circus drama like The Greatest Show On Earth has spectacular set pieces and a spectacularly poor script.
John Wayne is the head of a wild west show type of circus on tour in Europe. Wayne is searching for his long lost love who just happens to be Rita Hayworth who has a daughter who just happens to be Claudia Cardinale who Wayne just happens to be raising as his adopted daughter. Well it's not Eugene O'Neill exactly it's more like Barbara Cartland.
Circus World was directed by the old pro Henry Hathaway and filmed in 70mm. More importantly it was produced by Samuel Bronston a man who when it came to film thought very big as in, King of Kings, 55 Days at Peking, The Fall of the Roman Empire and El Cid. Bronston was a producer known for his "creative" financing. Circus World was the end of the road for him as the film was a big flop.
The film is entertaining nonsense, with a couple of very cool set pieces. A ship tips over in a harbor and since this is a Bronston production it's a real ship. There is also a spectacular fire sequence, where it looks like John Wayne was almost burned at one point.
This gigantic film production is a fun time waster with a 9 million dollar budget when 9 million dollars bought a lot of bang for a film production buck.
John Wayne plays John Wayne as usual.
135 minutes
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