The Greatest Show on Earth

Feb 16, 1952

2h 32m

★ 6.3

The Heartbeat Story of Circus People, Filmed with the Cooperation of Ringling Bros. - Barnum and Bailey Circus!

Overview

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.

Genres

Drama

Romance

Production Companies

Paramount Pictures

The Greatest Show on Earth Trailers

Cast

Holly

Betty Hutton

The Great Sebastian

Cornel Wilde

Brad Braden

Charlton Heston

Phyllis

Dorothy Lamour

Angel

Gloria Grahame

Buttons

James Stewart

FBI Agent Gregory

Henry Wilcoxon

Klaus

Lyle Bettger

Mr. Henderson

Lawrence Tierney

Himself

Emmett Kelly

Cucciola

The Ringmaster

Robert Carson

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.

7.1

Fahrenheit 451

Sep 7, 1966

In the future, the government maintains control of public opinion by outlawing literature and maintaining a group of enforcers, known as “firemen,” to perform the necessary book burnings. Fireman Montag begins to question the morality of his vocation…

7.2

West Side Story

Dec 13, 1961

In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.

6.8

Shakespeare in Love

Dec 11, 1998

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6.7

Exodus

Dec 15, 1960

Ari Ben Canaan, a passionate member of the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, attempts to transport 600 Jewish refugees on a dangerous voyage from Cyprus to Palestine on a ship named the Exodus. He faces obstruction from British forces, who will not grant the ship passage to its destination.

7.8

Dances with Wolves

Mar 30, 1990

Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.

7.8

Big Fish

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7.2

Out of Africa

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7.8

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Nov 4, 1927

A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.

6.4

THX 1138

Mar 11, 1971

People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.

7.6

Gandhi

Dec 1, 1982

In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of 'passive resistance', endeavouring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed.

7.7

Platoon

Dec 19, 1986

As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

7.8

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Oct 11, 1957

The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.

7.9

Chinatown

Jun 20, 1974

Private eye Jake Gittes lives off of the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-World War II Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite to investigate her husband's extra-marital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together.

7.0

American Graffiti

Aug 11, 1973

A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

8.1

Singin' in the Rain

Apr 10, 1952

In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his paranoid screen partner struggle to make the difficult transition to talking pictures.

7.3

A Man for All Seasons

Dec 13, 1966

A depiction of the conflict between King Henry VIII of England and his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More, who refuses to swear the Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry Supreme Head of the Church in England.