GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

The Greatest Show on Earth
(aka Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth)
Paramount, 1952, Color, 149 minutes, ***½
Released February, 1952

Ladies and gentlemen...Welcome to Cecil B. DeMille's Oscar-winning look at life under the big top. See lion-tamers and acrobats! Be amazed at death-defying stunts and incredible train wrecks! Witness superb acting by Charlton Heston, James Stewart, Cornel Wilde, Betty Hutton and Dorothy Lamour!

This is probably the best movie documenting the American Circus. Cecil B. DeMille never does anything half-way! It's an epic presentation of circus entertainment and the "backstage" trials, tribulations and romantic entanglements of the performers.

Produced and Directed by: Cecil B. DeMille
Associate Producer: Henry Wilcoxon
Assistant Director: Edward Salven
Screenplay by: Fredric M. Frank, Barré Lyndon, Theodore St. John
Story by: Fredric M. Frank, Theodore St. John, Frank Cavett
Technical Advisor: John Ringling North
Produced with the cooperation of Ringling Bros. - Barnum & Bailey
Music Score: Victor Young
Songs: "The Greatest Show on Earth," "Be a Jumping Jack" by Victor Young and Ned Washington; "Lovely Luawana Lady" by John Ringling North and E. Ray Goetz; "Popcorn and Lemonade," "A Picnic in the Park," "Sing a Happy Song" by Henry Sullivan and John Murray Anderson
Circus Musical and Dance Numbers Staged by: John Murray Anderson
Choreography: Richard Barstow
Art Direction: Hal Pereira and Walter Tyler
Set Decoration: Sam Comer and Ray Moyer
Costumes: Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins
Circus Costumes: Miles White
Circus Costumes executed by Brooks Costume Co.
Makeup Supervision: Wally Westmore
Sound Recording by: Harry Lindgren and John Cope
Director of Photography: George Barnes
Additional Photography: J. Peverell Marley, Wallace Kelley
Special Photographic Effects: Gordon Jennings, Paul Lerpae, Devereaux Jennings
Color by Technicolor
Technicolor Color Consultant: Robert Brower
Edited by: Anne Bauchens

Awards: Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Motion Picture Story; Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Costume Design (Color) (Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins and Miles White) and Best Film Editing (Anne Bauchens)

Cast: Cecil B. DeMille [Narrator], Betty Hutton [Holly], Cornel Wilde [Sebastian], Charlton Heston [Brad], Dorothy Lamour [Phyllis], Gloria Grahame [Angel], James Stewart [Buttons the Clown], Henry Wilcoxon [Detective], Lyle Bettger [Klaus], Lawrence Tierney [Henderson], John Kellogg [Harry], John Ridgely [Jack Steelman, Assistant Manager], Frank Wilcox [Circus Doctor], Robert Carson [Ringmaster], Lillian Albertson [Buttons' Mother], Julia Faye [Birdie], Gloria Drew [Ann], Anthony Marsh [Tony], Bruce Cameron [Bruce], Noel Neill [Noel], Charmienne Harker [Charmienne], Dorothy Crider [Dorothy], Patricia Michon [Patricia], Vicki Bakken [Vicki], Gay McEldowney [Gay], Hugh Prosser [Hugh], Russ Conklin [Rus], John Crawford [Jack], Claude Dunkin [Claude], Keith Richards [Keith], Rosemary Dvorak [Rosemary], Lorna Jordan [Lorna], Mona Knox [Mona], Gertrude Messinger [Gertrude], John Parrish [Jack Lawson], William Hall [Bill], Brad Johnson [Reporter], William J. Riley, Robert W. Rushing [Policemen], Adele Cook Johnson [Mabel], Lane Chandler [Lane], Howard Negley [Truck Boss], Erik Nelson [Boy], Beverly Washburn [Girl], Syd Saylor, Lester Dorr [Circus Barkers], Milton Kibbee [Townsman], Fred Kohler Jr. [Fireman], Greta Granstedt, Mary Field, Kathleen Freeman [Women], Ross Bagdasarian [Man], Edmond O'Brien [Midway Barker], Dale Van Sickel [Man in Train Wreck], William Boyd [Hopalong Cassidy], Bing Crosby [cameo], Bob Hope [cameo], Mona Freeman [cameo], Tuffy Genders [Tuffy], Ethan Laidlaw [Hank], Stanley Andrews [Man], Lydia Clarke [Circus Girl], John Merton [Chuck], Bradford Hatton [Osborne], Herbert Lytton [Foreman], Norman Field [Truesdale], Everett Glass [Board Member], Lee Aaker [Boy], Nancy Gates, Ken Christy, Clarence Nash, Bess Flowers [Spectators], Lou Jacobs, Felix Adler, The Flying Concellos, Paul Jung, The Maxellos [Circus Acts], Dolores Hall, Robert St. Angelo, Davison Clark, Dorothy Adams, Ottola Nesmith, David Newell, Josephine Whittell, Emmett Kelly, Cucciola, Antoinette Concello, John Ringling North [Themselves]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:44] Circus Serenade: Sing a Happy Song (vocal, sung off-screen) / Disney Album / A Gay Nineties Album / A Moonlight Serenade / Mother Goose / A Barber Shop Ballad / A Bouquet of American Beauty (Only a Rose sung by Betty Hutton and Girls Chorus) / A Stephen Foster Album / A South American Album / Hopalong Cassidy / A Christmas Album / Jingle Bells (short vocal) / Adeste Fidelis (instrumental); [1:14] Lovely Luawana Lady (sung by Dorothy Lamour, danced by Dorothy Lamour and Girls Chorus); [1:16] Bob Hope and Bing Crosby are seen as the camera pans across the audience; [1:31] Be a Jumping Jack (sung by Betty Hutton and James Stewart while jumping on trampoline); [1:43] A Picnic in the Park (sung off-camera by unidentified male singer during Marie Antoinette number); [2:23] The Greatest Show on Earth (sung by Betty Hutton); [3:07] The Greatest Show on Earth (sung by Betty Hutton); [cut?] Popcorn and Lemonade (sung off-camera by Studio Chorus)