Circus World (1964)

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

Writers:

Ben Hecht (screenplay), Julian Zimet (screenplay) (as Julian Halevy)

Stars:

John Wayne, Rita Hayworth, Claudia Cardinale

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Wayne	...	Matt Masters
Claudia Cardinale	...	Toni Alfredo
Rita Hayworth	...	Lili Alfredo
Lloyd Nolan	...	Cap Carson
Richard Conte	...	Aldo Alfredo
John Smith	...	Steve McCabe
Katharyna	...	Giovana
Katherine Kath	...	Hilda
Wanda Rotha	...	Mrs. Schuman
Maggie Rennie	...	Anna (as Maggie Macgrath)
Miles Malleson	...	Billy Hennigan
José María Caffarel	...	Barcelona's Mayor (as Jose Maria Cafarell)
Kay Walsh	...	Flo Hunt
Francois Calepides	...	Ringmaster
Robert Cunningham	...	Ringmaster

Storyline

In the early years of the 20th century, Matt Masters takes his rambling Wild West Show to Europe. His decision is prompted by his desire to find Lili Alfredo, who disappeared fourteen years earlier following the death of her husband, The Flying Alfredo. At the time it was believed that Alfredo dived to his death deliberately when he realized his wife loved Matt and not him. Toni, a beautiful trapeze performer, raised by Matt is actually Lili's daughter, and she is in love with Steve McCabe, one of the stars on Matt's show. Doing their first show in Barcelona, aboard a ship, the ship keels over and Matt loses his show. Now broke, he leaves for Paris with Toni, Steve and his long-time friend, Cap Carson, to seek a job with Colonel Purdy's Wild West Show. But a year later, Matt has rebuilt his own show. First to be signed is a remarkable 12-year-old wire-walker named Giovana, and her guardian, Tojo the Clown, whose real named is Aldo Alfredo, formerly of the Flying Alfredos. Continuing ...

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Plot Keywords:

circus | wild west show | search | trapeze | redheaded woman | 

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Taglines:

All WAYNE...And a World Wide...

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Henry Hathaway's Circus World

Filming Locations:

Aranjuez, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Samuel Bronston Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm prints) 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor) (as Technicolor®)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's production was the setting for a novel by the Spanish author Juan Miñana which was originally published in 1999 with the Spanish title Noticias del mundo real (News from the Real World). It is about two young Spanish law students in 1964 who search the city of Barcelona for John Wayne, who has not returned to the hotel for another day of the film's shooting.

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Goofs

Whilst the film is taking place in 1901, there are several mistakes with the European flags. One example is the Finnish flag that is seen in the movie. Finland didn't achieve independence (and the flag) until 1918.

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Connections

Featured in Notes from the Blacklist (2011)

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Soundtracks

Buffalo Gals
(uncredited)
Music by William Cool White
Arranged by Dimitri Tiomkin

User Reviews

It's a movie, folks!

I watched this, for the first time since it was in theatres when I was 10, on YouTube in HD720 letterboxed at 2.20:1 on my internet-capable Blu-Ray player - the picture quality was outstanding. It was a different kind of role for Duke and, despite the obvious fact that it's not one of his or Hathaway's best, I found it enjoyable for a variety of reasons. Besides Wayne, there's Claudia Cardinale, John Smith whom I remembered from "Laramie" and one of my favorites, Lloyd Nolan. Not to mention Rita Hayworth. I enjoyed Jack Hildyard's beautiful photography and wish more films had been photographed in Technirama - it was such a versatile format, very high quality like VistaVision. I didn't let the picture's script shortcomings bother me - for my money (none!), they just didn't matter - or the probable fact that, if all it took to capsize a ship at the dock was a bunch of people rushing over to the side rail, it never would've survived an ocean crossing. Heck, it's make-believe, and it has ample verisimilitude to satisfy me. Just kick back and enjoy it.