This one has a musty script as old as silent movies: a love triangle set in a circus. Lon Chaney did this a couple of times back in the twenties. Apparently the novel this film was based on was mostly about a murder committed by one of the members of the love triangle. It didn't dwell much on the circus, so Lancaster dispensed with most of the book and had it re-shaped into this cliché hash. The combo of Lancaster and Reed is a guarantee that the film would be humorless and indeed it is. In fact, it is relentlessly gloomy, with an overbearing score by Malcolm Arnold that doesn't help. The only humor to be found is of the unintentional variety early on when the self-denying acrobat Lancaster keeps trying to cut loose the pestering New Kid Curtis. It's so corny it's risible. And so much of that pestering is about that all-important 'Triple Air Somersault' -- so much about it that the film comes unglued in its obsession over this gymnastic stunt.
But on the plus side, the film was a huge success at the time, and it lifted Tony Curtis to stardom. It also showed off Lancaster's undeniable physical gifts, and most noticeably, the physical gifts of Gina Lollobrigida, in her first American film. She is absolutely gorgeous, and gets to play the most realistic and interesting character in the film. If you like Lollo and the circus, you'll like this one.
But on the plus side, the film was a huge success at the time, and it lifted Tony Curtis to stardom. It also showed off Lancaster's undeniable physical gifts, and most noticeably, the physical gifts of Gina Lollobrigida, in her first American film. She is absolutely gorgeous, and gets to play the most realistic and interesting character in the film. If you like Lollo and the circus, you'll like this one.
