The Big Show

May 10, 1961

1h 53m

★ 5.0

The BIG Spectacle! The BIG Excitement! The BIG Drama!

Overview

A European circus family is torn apart by greed and jealousy.

Genres

Drama

Production Companies

Associated Producers

The Big Show Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Hillary Allen

Esther Williams

Josef Everard

Cliff Robertson

Bruno Everard

Nehemiah Persoff

Klaus Everard

Robert Vaughn

Carlotta Martinez

Margia Dean

Eric Solden

David Nelson

Teresa Vizzini

Renate Mannhardt

Garda Everard

Carol Christensen

Hans Everard

Kurt Pecher

Fredrik Everard

Franco Andrei

Pietro Vizzini

Peter Capell

Lawyer

Stefan Schnabel

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.

7.8

Big Fish

Dec 25, 2003

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.

7.8

Wings of Desire

Sep 23, 1987

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds -- with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk -- that it might be possible for him to take human form.

7.5

The Unknown

May 29, 1927

On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder – a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.

7.6

He Who Gets Slapped

Dec 22, 1924

After a baron steals his scientific discoveries, runs away with his wife, and slaps him in public, a man joins a Parisian circus sideshow as a clown whose act consists of being slapped repeatedly and becomes infatuated with a showgirl colleague whose father intends to marry her off to the baron.

5.0

The Circus Tent

Jan 18, 1978

The arrival of a travelling circus sends ripples through the inhabitants of a remote Keralan village.

6.3

The Greatest Show on Earth

Feb 16, 1952

To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.

7.0

Street Angel

Apr 9, 1928

A spirited young woman finds herself destitute and on the streets before joining a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter.

0.0

The Happy Warrior

Jul 5, 1925

Malcolm McGregor joins the circus and falls in love with Olive Borden but his life changes when he finds out he is a titled Lord.

0.0

The Circus Kid

Oct 7, 1928

In 'The Circus Kid', Buddy, an orphan who runs away from a a harsh orphanage, joins Cadwallader's Circus.

7.9

Werckmeister Harmonies

Feb 1, 2001

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.

5.0

Smalltown Boys

Nov 5, 2022

A young man seems to be dreaming of a reality different from the business he is about to take over and the married life that goes with it; he is drawn to the spicy life of a queer vaudeville troupe performing in his village.

7.1

The Girl on the Bridge

Mar 31, 1999

It's night on a Paris bridge. A girl leans over Seine River with tears in her eyes and a violent yearning to drown her sorrows. Out of nowhere someone takes an interest in her. He is Gabor, a knife thrower who needs a human target for his show. The girl, Adele, has never been lucky and nowhere else to go. So she follows him. They travel along the northern bank of the Mediterranean to perform.

0.0

Spangles

Nov 7, 1926

At a three-ring circus, 'Spangles' Delancy, a beautiful bareback horse rider, falls in love with a wanted man, Dick Radley, who uses the circus as a hideout. The show's owner Big Bill Bowman also falls in love with Spangles-- But only one man can have her.

7.5

Mera Naam Joker

Dec 18, 1970

Raju faces many hurdles and disappointments in matters of the heart throughout his life. But as a clown in a circus, he tries to make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manager, "The show must go on."

7.1

Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

May 5, 2000

A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, then delight. As an adolescent, he enters a desert, where a man spins a large cube of metal tubing. He leaves his instinct-guides behind, and enters a garden where two statues dance in a pond. As he watches their sensual acrobatics of love, he becomes a man. He is offered wealth (represented by a golden hat) by a devil figure. In a richly decorated room, a scruffy troupe of a dozen acrobats and a little girl reawaken the old man's youthful nature and love.

7.1

Santa Sangre

Nov 24, 1989

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his mother – the leader of a strange religious cult – and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.

4.3

The Last Romantic Lover

Apr 26, 1978

The romance between a lion tamer and a liberated girl.

2.6

Carnival Magic

Mar 4, 1983

A magician in a carnival--who actually can read minds and levitate people and objects--works with a superintelligent chimp named Alex, who can also talk. The magician and the chimp soon become the stars of the carnival, drawing in big crowds. However, the wild-animal trainer, who has been displaced by the team as the carnival's top act, decides to kidnap Alex and sell him to a medical laboratory for experimentation, thereby getting rid of his competition.

0.0

Carola Lamberti

Nov 30, 1954

Carola has been running the family-owned circus alone since her husband’s death, but she suddenly finds herself at odds with her three adult sons who are also performance artists and want to have a say in how the business is run. The family discord leads Carola to turn her back on the circus, leaving the three inexperienced sons in charge. This turn of events forces the family to learn to work together or face bankruptcy.