**SPOILERS** Having his sweet and innocent kid sister Mary, Joan Leslie, kept out of his business by having her put away in a convent for the first 18 years of her life carnival manager Nick Coaster, Humphrey Bogart, got the surprise of his life when sweet little Mary fell in love with one of his workers; Nick's young & handsome star lion tamer Matt Varney, Eddie Albert.
Matt a former grocery stock boy got the chance to strut his stuff when killer lion Caesar broke out of his cage-at Nick's Carnival-and almost ripped up the entire town. That's until Matt kept the big cat at bay, with a pitchfork, until the carvery, or posse, arrive. With his star lion tamer "The Great Hoffman" Gig Ruman always drunk on and off the job Nick's hired Matt as Hoffman's understudy until the old guy got so drunk that his booze breath actually attracted the wild cats more to attack and feast on him then his whip chair and pistol were able to keep them in their places!
It's when Matt achieved top billing at the carnival , or circus, that he accidentally got involved with Mary who was home visiting from collage. Nick in wanting to keep Mary away from the riff-raft, I guess like himself, that worked at his carnival then blew a fuse when he found that she was deeply in love with Matt and about to marry him. Trying to beak up the romance between Matt & Mary Nick came up with this sinister and diabolical plan to put Matt in a cage with killer lion Caesar and have the big cat do him in.
Caesar had already killed the other lion tamer-Bundy-at the carnival and with his taste for human blood now fully confirmed Nick knew that Matt , no matter how good he is, wouldn't stand a chance against the wild and blood thirsty, for human blood, Caesar. To make things even worse for the unsuspecting Matt Nick made sure that his pistol, a last resort in dealing with Caesar when everything else failed, had no bullets in it! With a sellout crowd at the Chicago Arena Matt now completely out of his league confronts the 500 pounds of fighting fury the man killer lion Caesar without realizing that he, like the Christians in the Roman Colosseum, has about a snowball chance in hell to survive! That's until Mary and and carnival fortune teller Flo Lorraine, Slivia Sidney, got wind of Nicks plan for Matt and then tried to stop the slaughter before it started!
***SPOILERS*** Even though he played a heavy Humphrey Bogart, or Nick Coaster, was anything but unlikable in the movie. Sure at times he came across as a sneering and deranged looking maniac and even his concern for Mary was anything but a case of brotherly love. But still, in his being overly protective of Mary, Nick's heart was nevertheless in the right place despite his crazed obsession to not only break up his sister and Matt's love affair but have Matt torn apart by one of his mean and ferocious jungle cats. ***MAJOR SPOILER*** It was when Matt was about to become hamburger meat for the raging and uncontrollable Caesar that Nick finally came to his senses. It was in that one brave and heroic act Nick earned the love respect and admiration of everyone in the movie but sadly enough ended up losing his life by doing it!
Matt a former grocery stock boy got the chance to strut his stuff when killer lion Caesar broke out of his cage-at Nick's Carnival-and almost ripped up the entire town. That's until Matt kept the big cat at bay, with a pitchfork, until the carvery, or posse, arrive. With his star lion tamer "The Great Hoffman" Gig Ruman always drunk on and off the job Nick's hired Matt as Hoffman's understudy until the old guy got so drunk that his booze breath actually attracted the wild cats more to attack and feast on him then his whip chair and pistol were able to keep them in their places!
It's when Matt achieved top billing at the carnival , or circus, that he accidentally got involved with Mary who was home visiting from collage. Nick in wanting to keep Mary away from the riff-raft, I guess like himself, that worked at his carnival then blew a fuse when he found that she was deeply in love with Matt and about to marry him. Trying to beak up the romance between Matt & Mary Nick came up with this sinister and diabolical plan to put Matt in a cage with killer lion Caesar and have the big cat do him in.
Caesar had already killed the other lion tamer-Bundy-at the carnival and with his taste for human blood now fully confirmed Nick knew that Matt , no matter how good he is, wouldn't stand a chance against the wild and blood thirsty, for human blood, Caesar. To make things even worse for the unsuspecting Matt Nick made sure that his pistol, a last resort in dealing with Caesar when everything else failed, had no bullets in it! With a sellout crowd at the Chicago Arena Matt now completely out of his league confronts the 500 pounds of fighting fury the man killer lion Caesar without realizing that he, like the Christians in the Roman Colosseum, has about a snowball chance in hell to survive! That's until Mary and and carnival fortune teller Flo Lorraine, Slivia Sidney, got wind of Nicks plan for Matt and then tried to stop the slaughter before it started!
***SPOILERS*** Even though he played a heavy Humphrey Bogart, or Nick Coaster, was anything but unlikable in the movie. Sure at times he came across as a sneering and deranged looking maniac and even his concern for Mary was anything but a case of brotherly love. But still, in his being overly protective of Mary, Nick's heart was nevertheless in the right place despite his crazed obsession to not only break up his sister and Matt's love affair but have Matt torn apart by one of his mean and ferocious jungle cats. ***MAJOR SPOILER*** It was when Matt was about to become hamburger meat for the raging and uncontrollable Caesar that Nick finally came to his senses. It was in that one brave and heroic act Nick earned the love respect and admiration of everyone in the movie but sadly enough ended up losing his life by doing it!