Plot

A scheming circus owner finds her authority challenged when a vicious killer targets the show.

Monica Rivers is the owner and ringmaster of a traveling circus, and she'll stop at nothing to draw bigger audiences. When a series of mysterious murders occurs and some of her performers die gruesomely, her profits soar. She hires high-wire walker Frank Hawkins, impressed by the handsome and muscular young man. They begin an affair which arouses her previous lover Durando's jealousy. When Durando is found dead shortly afterward, the other performers become alarmed, as a mysterious killer is obviously loose in their midst. Many suspect Monica herself of the killings, especially Matilda, who has set her sights on Monica's new lover. At this point, Monica's unruly 16-year-old daughter Angela is expelled from school for being incorrigible, and Monica is forced to take her into the circus, allowing her to become the partner of knife-thrower Gustavo. Meanwhile, the dead bodies continue to pile up.—alfiehitchie

Being the ringmaster and having her name attached to The Great Rivers Circus, which is currently traveling through Britain, ostensibly belongs to Monica Rivers although she's only co-owner, having sold part-interest after her husband's death 6 years early; he had been one of the performers. She would buy out her business partner (and occasional bedmate) Albert Dorando, the circus' business manager, if she had the funds; only they two know that he is part-owner. The circus is already having a bad season when Monica sees the onstage death of one of her marquee performer as an opportunity: the public's morbid curiosity might just increase their future box-office receipts. (She doesn't see the death as tragic; she has the cold-hearted view that nobody is indispensable.) She is quickly able to replace the deceased's act by that of Frank Hawkins, an unknown quantity who has shown up out of nowhere. On the surface, his act ends up being truly death-defying. When another death occurs at the circus, this one obvious murder, speculation abounds that the first death was also murder. This second death not only starts to panic the other performers, many who believe Monica the killer as she has the most to gain and has shown little grief, but Scotland Yard investigates, assigning Superintendent Brooks to stay with the circus until the murders are solved. Beyond Frank's aggressive behavior since his arrival both in wanting a piece of the circus himself and wanting to be Monica's sole romantic interest, the situation becomes more complicated with the unexpected return of Monica's daughter Angela Rivers from finishing school. Will Monica demonstrate her maternal instincts compared to her cutthroat instincts for the circus business?—Huggo

As the co-owner and ringmaster of a traveling circus, Monica Rivers (Joan Crawford) is always preoccupied with filling seats. Following the accidental death of a tightrope walker, Rivers is pleased to see her profits increase and callously unconcerned with the demise of her employee--in fact, she hires handsome Frank Hawkins (Ty Hardin) to replace him. But when several more performers meet gruesome deaths, it becomes apparent that they are no accidents, and that a killer is on the loose.