Let's Go to a Circus or Carnival

by horn-5 | created - 01 Mar 2014 | updated - 02 Mar 2014 | Public

Films that have a circus or carnival (the side-show kind and not a fiesta-festival) and/or a wild west show or an aerial show as the primary setting.

http://www.imdb.com/list/Ne_LMu8TCpk/

Smell the sawdust and popcorn at the one you choose to attend.

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1. Circus World (1964)

Approved | 135 min | Drama, Western

When circus proprietor Matt Masters decides to take his show on a European tour, it is beset by problems, while he searches for Lili, the mother of his adopted daughter, who disappeared years before.

Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: John Wayne, Rita Hayworth, Claudia Cardinale, Lloyd Nolan

Votes: 2,974

2. Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)

Approved | 123 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

A debt-ridden circus is saved by a well-meaning but inept publicity man.

Director: Charles Walters | Stars: Doris Day, Jimmy Durante, Stephen Boyd, Martha Raye

Votes: 1,726

3. Trapeze (1956)

Approved | 105 min | Drama, Romance

A crippled circus acrobat is torn emotionally between two ambitious young trapeze artists, one a talented young American and a less-gifted but beautiful Italian.

Director: Carol Reed | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, Gina Lollobrigida, Katy Jurado

Votes: 5,221

4. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

Passed | 152 min | Drama, Family, Romance

76 Metascore

The dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer are told against a background of circus spectacle.

Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde

Votes: 16,034 | Gross: $36.00M

5. Dumbo (1941)

G | 64 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama

96 Metascore

Ridiculed because of his enormous ears, a young circus elephant is assisted by a mouse to achieve his full potential.

Directors: Samuel Armstrong, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Bill Roberts, Ben Sharpsteen, John Elliotte | Stars: Sterling Holloway, Edward Brophy, Herman Bing, Billy Bletcher

Votes: 141,992 | Gross: $1.60M

6. The Circus (1928)

Passed | 72 min | Comedy, Family, Romance

90 Metascore

The Tramp finds work and the girl of his dreams at a circus.

Director: Charles Chaplin | Stars: Charles Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, Al Ernest Garcia, Harry Crocker

Votes: 36,023

7. At the Circus (1939)

Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Musical

The Marx Brothers try to help the owner of a circus recover some stolen funds before he finds himself out of a job.

Director: Edward Buzzell | Stars: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kenny Baker

Votes: 6,464

8. Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)

Approved | 72 min | Mystery

While visiting the circus with his family, Charlie is recruited by the big top's co-owner to investigate threatening letters that he's received.

Director: Harry Lachman | Stars: Warner Oland, Keye Luke, George Brasno, Olive Brasno

Votes: 1,805

9. Freaks (1932)

Not Rated | 64 min | Drama, Horror

80 Metascore

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Director: Tod Browning | Stars: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates

Votes: 50,573 | Gross: $0.63M

10. The Big Circus (1959)

Approved | 109 min | Drama, Romance

A circus owner tries to keep his financially troubled circus on the road, despite the efforts of a murderous saboteur who has decided that the show must not go on.

Director: Joseph M. Newman | Stars: Victor Mature, Red Buttons, Rhonda Fleming, Kathryn Grant

Votes: 852

11. Nightmare Alley (1947)

Passed | 110 min | Drama, Film-Noir

75 Metascore

The rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.

Director: Edmund Goulding | Stars: Tyrone Power, Joan Blondell, Coleen Gray, Helen Walker

Votes: 13,409

12. Poppy (1936)

Passed | 73 min | Comedy

Carny con artist and snake-oil salesman Eustace McGargle tries to stay one step ahead of the sheriff but is completely devoted to his beloved daughter Poppy.

Director: A. Edward Sutherland | Stars: W.C. Fields, Rochelle Hudson, Richard Cromwell, Catherine Doucet

Votes: 754

13. Sally of the Sawdust (1925)

Not Rated | 104 min | Comedy

Judge Foster throws his daughter out because she married a circus man. She leaves her baby girl with Prof. McGargle before she dies. Years later Sally is a dancer with whom Peyton, a son of... See full summary »

Director: D.W. Griffith | Stars: Carol Dempster, W.C. Fields, Alfred Lunt, Erville Alderson

Votes: 592 | Gross: $0.30M

14. Daredevils of the Red Circle (1939)

Approved | 211 min | Action, Adventure, Crime

Using a diabolical disguise, Harry Crowel embarks on a vengeful career of destruction...opposed by three heroic daredevils.

Directors: John English, William Witney | Stars: Charles Quigley, Bruce Bennett, David Sharpe, Carole Landis

Votes: 252

15. Ring of Fear (1954)

Approved | 93 min | Adventure, Mystery

The Clyde Beatty Circus seems jinxed, falling victim again and again to apparent accidents which are actually the acts of a murderous saboteur. Mystery writer Mickey Spillane comes on the scene to solve the case.

Directors: James Edward Grant, William A. Wellman | Stars: Clyde Beatty, Pat O'Brien, Mickey Spillane, Sean McClory

Votes: 395

16. Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)

Passed | 73 min | Drama

A professional clown and a self-indulgent count learn to help each other with their problems, but then become romantic rivals.

Director: Herbert Brenon | Stars: Lon Chaney, Bernard Siegel, Loretta Young, Cissy Fitzgerald

Votes: 2,144

17. The Last Circus (2010)

R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror

70 Metascore

A young trapeze artist must decide between her lust for Sergio, the Happy Clown, or her affection for Javier, the Sad Clown, both of whom are deeply disturbed.

Director: Álex de la Iglesia | Stars: Carlos Areces, Antonio de la Torre, Carolina Bang, Manuel Tallafé

Votes: 15,225 | Gross: $0.04M

18. 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)

Passed | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Western

A mysterious circus comes to a western town bearing wonders and characters that entertain the inhabitants and teach valuable lessons.

Director: George Pal | Stars: Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell, John Ericson

Votes: 5,392

19. Doctor Dolittle (1967)

Approved | 152 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

34 Metascore

After the animal communicating veterinarian goes too far for his clientele, he and his friends escape their hometown to the sea in search of the Great Pink Sea Snail.

Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar, Anthony Newley, Richard Attenborough

Votes: 10,256 | Gross: $13.52M

20. I'm No Angel (1933)

Passed | 87 min | Comedy, Music, Romance

Circus performer Tira seeks a better life pursuing the company of wealthy New York men with improbable comic complications along the way.

Director: Wesley Ruggles | Stars: Mae West, Cary Grant, Gregory Ratoff, Edward Arnold

Votes: 3,980 | Gross: $6.21M

21. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)

PG | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Western

61 Metascore

A cynical Buffalo Bill hires Sitting Bull to exploit him and add his credibility to the distorted view of history presented in his Wild West Show.

Director: Robert Altman | Stars: Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Kevin McCarthy, Harvey Keitel

Votes: 5,288

22. Annie Oakley (1935)

Passed | 90 min | Biography, Drama, Western

A romanticized biography of the famous sharpshooter.

Director: George Stevens | Stars: Barbara Stanwyck, Preston Foster, Melvyn Douglas, Moroni Olsen

Votes: 1,895

23. You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)

Approved | 79 min | Comedy, Family

The owner of a debt-ridden circus contends with pursuing bill collectors and sheriffs, and his beloved daughter's relationships with one of his performers and a stuffy but wealthy young man.

Directors: George Marshall, Edward F. Cline | Stars: W.C. Fields, Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson

Votes: 1,887

24. Psycho-Circus (1966)

Not Rated | 91 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

A circus becomes the location for stolen loot and murder.

Directors: Werner Jacobs, John Llewellyn Moxey | Stars: Christopher Lee, Leo Genn, Anthony Newlands, Heinz Drache

Votes: 1,471

25. Merry Andrew (1958)

Passed | 103 min | Comedy, Musical, Romance

Downtrodden but creative English school-teacher (Danny Kaye) on archeological trip discovers joys of love and circus life with acrobat (Pier Angeli).

Director: Michael Kidd | Stars: Danny Kaye, Pier Angeli, Salvatore Baccaloni, Noel Purcell

Votes: 931

26. The Wagons Roll at Night (1941)

Approved | 84 min | Drama, Romance

After local grocery clerk rescues a baby from an escaped lion, a circus owner builds him into an attraction but balks when he falls in love with his sister.

Director: Ray Enright | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Sylvia Sidney, Eddie Albert, Joan Leslie

Votes: 1,195

27. Man on a Tightrope (1953)

Approved | 105 min | Drama, Thriller

A Czech circus owner/clown and his entire troupe employ a daring stratagem in order to escape en masse from behind the iron curtain.

Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Fredric March, Terry Moore, Gloria Grahame, Cameron Mitchell

Votes: 1,835

28. Acrobatty Bunny (1946)

Approved | 8 min | Family, Animation, Short

When the circus arrives they put the lion's cage right over Bugs' rabbit hole.

Director: Robert McKimson | Star: Mel Blanc

Votes: 971

29. The Shadow of the Eagle (1932)

Passed | 218 min | Mystery

The Eagle uses sky writing to make threats against a corporation. Nathan Gregory owns a traveling fairground and is thought to be the Eagle. Craig McCoy is a pilot who goes looking for the Eagle when Gregory turns up missing.

Directors: Ford Beebe, B. Reeves Eason | Stars: John Wayne, Dorothy Gulliver, Edward Hearn, Richard Tucker

Votes: 455

30. The Big Show (1936)

Passed | 71 min | Drama, Music, Western

At the Texas Centennial in Dallas Autry confuses two girls by being himself and his own stunt double.

Directors: Mack V. Wright, Joseph Kane | Stars: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Kay Hughes, Sally Payne

Votes: 298

31. Gorilla at Large (1954)

Not Rated | 83 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery

At a carnival called the Garden of Evil, a man is murdered, apparently by a gorilla...or someone in a gorilla suit.

Director: Harmon Jones | Stars: Cameron Mitchell, Anne Bancroft, Lee J. Cobb, Raymond Burr

Votes: 719

32. State Fair (1945)

Passed | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical

Each member of the Frake clan has his/her own reason for attending the annual Iowa State Fair.

Director: Walter Lang | Stars: Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine

Votes: 4,494

33. Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

PG | 95 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller

68 Metascore

In a small American town, a diabolical circus and its demonic proprietor prey on the townsfolk.

Director: Jack Clayton | Stars: Mary Grace Canfield, Richard Davalos, Jake Dengel, Jack Dodson

Votes: 10,605 | Gross: $8.40M

34. Carnival of Souls (1962)

Approved | 78 min | Horror, Mystery

After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.

Director: Herk Harvey | Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger, Art Ellison

Votes: 27,799

35. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Not Rated | 67 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Hypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.

Director: Robert Wiene | Stars: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover

Votes: 70,016



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