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The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)
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Overview
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Director:
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Release Date:
16 March 1962 (Finland)
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Plot:
A young couple inherits a debt-ridden old movie theater, appropriately nicknamed "The Flea Pit," and the three eccentric senior citizens who work there. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.
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User Comments:
A very funny movie
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Cast
(Complete credited cast)| Virginia McKenna | ... | Jean Spenser | |
| Bill Travers | ... | Matt Spenser | |
| Margaret Rutherford | ... | Mrs. Fazackalee | |
| Peter Sellers | ... | Percy Quill | |
| Bernard Miles | ... | Old Tom | |
| Francis De Wolff | ... | Albert Hardcastle | |
| Leslie Phillips | ... | Robin Carter | |
| June Cunningham | ... | Marlene Hogg | |
| Sid James | ... | Mr. Hogg (as Sidney James) | |
| George Cross | ... | Commissionaire | |
| George Cormack | ... | Bell | |
| Stringer Davis | ... | Emmett | |
| Michael Corcoran | ... | Taxi Driver |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Big Time Operators (USA)
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Parents Guide:
Runtime:
80 min
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Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The films shown at the Bijou (all fictional and presumably filmed just for this movie) are: - Killer Riders of Wyoming - The Mystery of Hell Valley - Comin' Thro' the Rye (Silent Movie) - Devil Riders of Parched Point
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Goofs:
Errors in geography: When the young couple arrive in "Sloughborough", in the north of England, they climb out of the taxi in front of Hammersmith underground station in London.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
References The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (29 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| remake?... | adamknox |
| Goofs ? | Greenman58 |
| Bill Travers | jeremy3 |
| Did the couple come from north Wales? | jeremy3 |
| Check out the DVD | mam13143 |
| feeling the inspiration | Ultimate007 |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
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| IMDb Comedy section | IMDb UK section | Add this title to MyMovies |


I am happy to read all the kudos from other film buffs for this little gemstone of a movie. It will seem corny and boring to those brought up on Hollywood in the past 30 years but if they would open up their minds to dry humor and sweetness there is much to enjoy in 'The Smallest Show on Earth.' First off the cast are top-drawer English comedians that are now extinct, sadly. Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Miles and Peter Sellars crown the story with their three highly eccentric and touching portrayals of the old hands at The Bijou, better known as The Flea Pit, an old opera house turned "Kinema". Bernard Miles, especially, gives a highly subtle and often moving portrayal of an aging janitor who lives on for a new uniform. Nowadays he'd be tossed in a home to rot, suffering from "dementia" or some such thing the medical profession has created to niche people for more convenient disposal. But in the days of the making of this movie people like old Tom (Miles) were allowed to continue with their lives, dotty as could be, but happy and earning a living, happy with his cats and his new uniform.
The "straight" couple, the new owners of the Flea Pit, are wonderfully done by the very handsome and under-rated Bill Travers and his real-life wife Virginia McKenna. Travers had the timing sense of Cary Grant, and was much better looking into the bargain. At 6'6" tall he had an engagingly masculine yet vulnerable way about him. He and McKenna have some of the cornier lines and the jokiness can be a bit "eye-rolling" but aside from that period humor this movie is filled with a dry wit that has always been beyond the abilities of Hollywood screen-writers to pen.
There is one scene in particular that sticks in the mind. The three old hands are alone at night in the old theatre. A silent film is playing, Mrs Fazackalee (Rutherford) is at the tinny old piano in the orchestra pit, Old Tom (Miles) is sitting with his cat in the front row. Mr Quill (Sellars) is in the control booth. Only Sellars speaks briefly to the new owners as they arrive upon the scene, lost in the "old days" of the kinema. Just the sight of Rutherford at the piano improvising music to the old love story on the screen, and Miles and his cat in the front row is enough to evoke tears. Longing for lost innocence I suppose.
This movie is loaded with a high humor, no vulgarity, sex or profanity comes into it. A very memorable little film that is long overdue for release on DVD. I was lucky enough to find a good quality VHS copy at Facets in Chicago in case anyone's had trouble rounding up a copy. An excellent miniature masterpiece portraying a more innocent and lovely period of time in our benighted 20th century.