Watching once more a film I remember with such fondness it is sad to relate that although there still are warm and lovely moments there are rather cancelled out by harsher and more crude elements. First of all, the cast is unbalanced, Peter Sellers, still struggling to make the big time is brilliant but horrendously underused. Margaret Rutherford struggles a little, I guess because of her age, but is still a majestic force and Bernard Miles, who was often guilty of embarrassingly overacting, is great here. Unfortunately Bill Travers and particularly Virginia McKenna are dreadful. McKenna was suddenly a big star and her inclusion here must have more to do with box office than any idea that she could play the daft part. Travers is not as bad but take the two out ( they would marry the same year) and bring forward the three well able to deal with comedic roles and develop the role of Leslie Phillips, who is surprisingly good here, and all might have been so much better. As it is, as I say, there is still enough charm here, with the little cinema struggling against its big rival and the loveable trio more interested in movies than money and probably worth it just to watch Sellers in the projection room, but it could have been so much better without having to wince each time McKenna or Travers uttered their lines. Poor title too, The Smallest Show on Earth but probably not as bad as the US one Big Time Operators, which apart from anything else makes it hard to find on IMDb.