"Man kills the thing he loves. A coward with a kiss and a brave man with a sword". That has got to be one of my favorite movie quotes of all time. It comes from the incomparable Jimmy Stewart who plays Buttons the clown in the 25th Annual Academy Awards Best Picture winner The Greatest Show on Earth. This is a story that brings the circus to life in a way that no other movie has dared to even try.
This movie follows the story of Brad Braden, the circus manager, and he fight to keep the Big Top going. With the threat of the backers to pull the circus out of all of the little towns to play only the big cities, Brad proves that he as something up his sleeve. He tells the backers that he has gotten the greatest trapeze artist known to man to play in the center ring, The Great Sabastian. The backers are surprised he was able to get such as act and when asked how he did it he said that he would only play if they played the whole season. The backers reluctantly agree to the full season as long as they stay in the don't start to loose money on the road. Brad's problems do not go away after he wins the battle of the season. He now has to tell his girl, another trapeze artist named Holly, that she will not longer be in the center ring because Sabastian is a bigger name than she is. With that being said Holly then starts to challenge Sabastian for the crowd's attention in the air, and without a net. Brad is trying to put fires out not only in the air but on the ground as well! Not only does he have to worry about his girl but he has another girl, named Angel, is after him, a hustler that is stealing money on the midway, and a mysterious clown that never takes off his make up all come out o the woodworks.
This film not only had one of the biggest box office draws of 1952 it also had the real Barnum & Bailey's Circus in the film as well. They played all of the extra parts and helped to get the acts on screen together. The cast learned how to do their acts and did them in the show. So, the question is after all of the wonderful and lively things they have done to make the movie a success how does anybody consider this film to be on of the 10 ten worst movies to ever win an Oscar? I mean I can see people being mad that this film was nominated for Best Picture when other great films weren't even nominated that year, such as Singin' in the Rain. I mean you have a great cast that stars Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, and James Stewart it would be hard for this film to be considered the worst at anything.
All of that history aside, I will have to say that this is one of my favorite movies that has won the award. It's funny and glamorous, it's a mystery that keeps you guessing, and a splendor to watch, and it has one of the best casts every to be brought together in a film. Jimmy Stewart does an amazing job playing a clown and I never thought I would say that in my whole life. Every single character is lovable and every single act makes you feel like you are at the circus and not like watching a movie at all. This film does an amazing job at the details of how a circus family acts, and keeps the show going! This movie has so much more heart that a majority of the other best pictures I have seen this far and does not need to be considered on of the worst by any stretch of the imagination.
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