Drama · Romance
American
1952 · Directed by Cecil B. DeMille · 152 min
A hard-driving circus manager must keep a travelling show solvent through a full season. He hires a famous aerialist who threatens the position of the woman he loves. Part backstage melodrama, part Technicolor documentary of a real circus on the road.
Why it matters in cinema history
A late peak of DeMille's populist spectacle, and one of the most debated Best Picture winners. It also belongs to the studio era's final push for big, colourful event cinema as television grew.
Watch with intention
Watch it as two films at once: a soap opera about people, and a record of how a giant circus actually functioned.
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