''The Big Show'' is a

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

DeLuxe Color DeLuxe Color or Deluxe color or Color by DeLuxe is Deluxe Laboratories brand of color process for motion pictures. DeLuxe Color is Eastmancolor-based, with certain adaptations for improved compositing for printing (similar to Technicolor's "sele ...

and

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its creation in 1953 by ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by James B. Clark, starring

Esther Williams Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Ol ...

and

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film '' PT 109'', and won the 196 ...

. The cast also includes

Robert Vaughn Robert Francis Vaughn (November 22, 1932 – November 11, 2016) was an American actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His television roles include the spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.''; the ...

Margia Dean Marguerite Louise Skliris-Alvarez ( Skliris; born April 7, 1922), known as Margia Dean, is an American former beauty queen and stage and screen actress of Greek descent, who had a successful career in Hollywood films during the 1940s until the ...

Nehemiah Persoff Nehemiah Persoff (August 2, 1919 – April 5, 2022) was an American character actor and painter. He appeared in more than 200 television series, films, and theatre productions and also performed as a voice artist in a career spanning 55 years, be ...

and David Nelson, who was best known to audiences of the time for ''

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...

'' television show. This is the third variation of

Jerome Weidman Jerome Weidman (April 4, 1913, New York City – October 6, 1998, New York City) was an American playwright and novelist. He collaborated with George Abbott on the book for the musical ''Fiorello!'' with music by Jerry Bock, and lyrics by Sheldo ...

's novel ''I'll Never Go There Any More''. The other two are ''

Broken Lance ''Broken Lance'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, and Katy Jurado. Shot in Technicolor and CinemaScope, the fil ...

'' (1954) a western version starring

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

, and ''

House of Strangers ''House of Strangers'' is a 1949 American film noir directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and starring Edward G. Robinson, Susan Hayward, and Richard Conte. The screenplay by Philip Yordan and Mankiewicz (who chose to go uncredited) is the first o ...

'' (1949) set in the big city starring Edward G. Robinson.

Plot

Bruno Everhard (Persoff) is the rigid and uncompromising owner of a German traveling circus. His four sons and daughter all work for the circus, including as performers. Three of the boys, in particular Klaus (Vaughn), resent the favoritism Bruno shows one son, Josef (Robertson). To curry his father's favor, Klaus abandons his sweetheart, circus aerialist Carlotta Martinez (Dean), to instead marry Teresa Vizzini (Mannhardt), whose father operates an animal menagerie that Bruno would like to merge with as a result. Josef, meantime, has fallen in love with a wealthy American woman, Hillary Allen (Williams), who wants him to quit the circus and begin a new life. Bruno is defied by his daughter, who marries Eric (Nelson), a soldier who wishes to try the trapeze. Teresa, distraught at learning why Klaus married her, commits suicide at the circus, stepping into the cage of man-eating bear. Carlotta, too, is almost killed, due to a faulty high wire during her act. Negligence is charged and Josef accepts the blame, sparing his father from having to go to prison. The other brothers seize the opportunity to take control of the circus. Bruno attempts a comeback on the trapeze, but has a heart attack and dies. Released from prison, Josef vows revenge. Klaus decides to kill his own brother, but steps too close to the bear's cage and is killed. Wishing there to be no more violence or retribution, Josef decides to leave the circus for good, and Hillary agrees to marry him.

Cast

as Hillary Allen *

as Josef Everard *

as Bruno Everard *

as Klaus Everard *

as Carlotta Martinez * David Nelson as Eric Solden *

Carol Christensen Carol Christensen (September 14, 1937 – June 4, 2005) was an American actress and former model. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she appeared in several films and television shows between 1960 and 1963. Early years Christensen attended Southfield ...

as Garda Everard * Kurt Pecher as Hans Everard *

Renate Mannhardt Renate Mannhardt (1920–2013) was a German actress. She starred in Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States ...

as Teresa Vizzini * Franco Andrei as Fredrik Everard *

Peter Capell Peter Capell (3 September 1912 – 3 March 1986) was a German actor who was active on screen from 1945 until 1985. Apart from a lengthy film career, he appeared in many television series and mini-series. He appeared in many old time radio pr ...

as Pietro Vizzini *

Stefan Schnabel Stefan Artur Schnabel (February 2, 1912 – March 11, 1999) was a German-born American actor who worked in theatre, radio, films and television. After moving to the United States in 1937 he became one of the original members of Orson Welles's M ...

as Lawyer *

Carleton Young Captain Carleton Scott Young (October 21, 1905 – November 7, 1994) was an American character actor who was known for his deep voice. Early years Born in Fulton, Oswego, New York, Young was the second and only surviving child of St ...

as Judge Richter * Philo Hauser as Ringmaster * Mariza Tomic as Fraustein

Production

James Clark and

Ted Sherdeman Ted Sherdeman (21 June 1909 – 22 August 1987) was an American radio producer, television writer and screenwriter. He was known for the films '' The Eddie Cantor Story'' (1953), ''Away All Boats'' (1956), ''St. Louis Blues'' (1958), '' A Dog of ...

had worked together on '' A Dog of Flanders'' for

Associated Producers Inc Robert Lenard Lippert (March 31, 1909 – November 16, 1976) was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in ...

(API). They formed their own company, Gemtaur Productions, and made ''The Big Show'' with API. At one stage

Millie Perkins Millie Perkins (born May 12, 1938) is an American film and television actress known for her debut film role as Anne Frank in ''The Diary of Anne Frank (1959 film), The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959), and for her supporting actress roles in two 19 ...

was announced for the lead. The film was shot in Munich Germany and Copenhagen in November 1960.

insisted on writing her own dialogue.

Reception

Maury Dexter Maury Dexter (born Morris Gene Poindexter; June 12, 1927 – May 28, 2017) was an American producer and director of film and TV. He worked several times for Robert Lippert and American International Pictures. Life and career Dexter was born in P ...

says the film was a moderate success at the box office.

Critical response

Howard Thompson of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote in his review of the film: "Against the excellently staged sawdust numbers (the polar bear act is fascinating), the increasingly ugly incidents edge toward dank, Gothic melodrama (a trial and a murderous climactic fight). There is little lightness or imagination in either the script or the directing. As softening concessions, we have two obvious romantic interludes. In one, young

pairs off with David Nelson, as a smitten American soldier—and the youngsters do very nicely. The main match brackets the laconic Mr. Robertson, as the noblest circus heir, and a starry-eyed Miss Williams, in the briefest role of her career, as a rich American expatriate without a pool to her name. She does dip once, swiftly, in an inserted and strikingly photographed, resort sequence (

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

). The film's best performance, with the cast striving hard, comes from

, as a lovely, betrayed bear tamer.

and Kurt Fecher are okay in other supporting parts. But ''The Big Show'' is an unappetizing bill of goods, beautiful to look at." Clark and Sherman worked on another film for API, ''Brother'', but it appears to have not been made.

Release

''The Big Show'' was released in theatres on July 14, 1961. The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

on December 11, 2012.

References

Sources

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Show, The 1961 films 1961 drama films American drama films Films directed by James B. Clark Circus films Films set in West Germany 20th Century Fox films Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1960s English-language films 1960s American films