DVD Collectors Online

The Greatest Show On Earth, a review by KinkyCyborg

The Greatest Show On Earth



Title:The Greatest Show on Earth
Year: 1952
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Rating: NR
Length: 152 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, French: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Betty Hutton
Cornel Wilde
Charlton Heston
Dorothy Lamour
Gloria Grahame

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Closed Captioned


This movie doesn't quite live up to it's lofty title but it was a very entertaining watch nonethless. More of a documentary style tribute to the Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus, you get a fascinating behind the scenes look at the machinations of circus life and the incredible amount of time and effort that went into these big top productions which sadly have given away to indoor performances at arenas & stadiums.

Charlton Heston was good as Brad Braden, leader of the circus and Cornell Wilde was great as trapeze star, The Great Sebastien. I would have taken just about any other female lead over Betty Hutton as Holly, another high flyer. I didn't understand how this woman's character could be the object of both these mens affections as I found her unattractive and annoying, incessantly whining throughout the movie. On the other hand Gloria Grahame as Angel, part of the elephant act, was a complete knockout!  James Stewart as Buttons the Clown was good also as a man on the run from the law, hiding in obscurity behind the painted face and goofy clothes. All in all these sidebar stories took a back seat to the goings on of the circus itself.

I spotted Bing Crosby, Bob Hope & Van Johnson as uncredited crowd spectators. I'm sure there are others I missed.

The rest of the cast was filled out with the actual circus performers which brought total authenticity to the acts. The crowd may have been actors but the wonderment on their faces, especially the children would have been as real as can be as I remembered my first trip to a circus as a young boy which was minuscule in comparison to these grand spectacles. The elephant acts were nothing short of majestic! 

A little research revealed that the circus is still going strong, still riding the trains of the eastern seaboard with two parallel tours offering different shows at different times of the year so that people could take in both should they so choose. It's a shame this traveling phenomena doesn't make it's way up into Canada as I would love to take the family to see it.

A great movie to watch where the Circus itself if by far the star of the show.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on May 24th, 2011)

The Girl Who Knew too Much, a review by Achim

Title: La Ragazza che sapeva troppo
Year: 1963
Director: Mario Bava
Rating: NR
Length: 86 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.77:1
Audio: Italian: Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
John Saxon
Leticia Roman
Valentina Cortese
Titti Tomaino
Luigi Bonos

Plot:
'Bava's' fourth film as credited director was his first contemporary narrative, a slyly Hitchcockian thriller that scholars cite as the first true giallo. 'Leticia Roman' stars as an American tourist in Rome who witnesses a serial killer's latest slaying and convinces a charming young doctor ('John Saxon') to help her investigate the city's 'Alphabet Murders'. Co-written by Bava and his final feature shot in black & white, its inventive camerawork, masterful compositions and wily humor combine to create one of the most surprising and satisfying film in Il Maestro's career.

For the first time anywhere, this presentation includes Bava's original uncut Italian-language International Version LA RAGAZZA CHE SAPEVA TROPPO/THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Gallery
Production Notes
Interviews



I was very pleased that we got something entirely different with this film and how effortlessly Bava made the switch. This is a murder mystery which is very captivating, although it drags a little in the middle (I also might simply have been too tired when I watched it) and lingers on the ending ever so slightly too long.

The film has a young woman, Nora, arrive in Rome to live with her aunt(?) for a while. In the airplane someone you unknowingly receives a few marijuana cigarettes. Her aunt dies shortly after her arrival and since the phone doesn't work she leaves the house to walk to the hospital to find the friendly doctor who had taken care of her aunt earlier in the evening. On the way she gets mugged and when she falls to the ground bumps her head, rendering her unconscious. When coming to her she apparently witnesses a murder. ...and this s only the first 12 minutes of the film. We follow Nora and the young doctor (an underused John Saxon) around trying to clarify whether Nora actually saw a murder or dreamed it all up. Cranking up the tension is the fact that she is could be the next victim.

Wonderful black &white photography of the criminally underused location Rome and lots of shadows make for a creepy investigation until the truth is eventually revealed. The ending was neither simply what I expected nor an eye-rolling experience, certainly worth mentioning and a bit out of the ordinary. The story provided some (unexpected) turns along the way which kept things exciting. The acting was good, although John Saxon was trying a bit hard at times.



(From Mario Bava marathon on June 23rd, 2009)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

Friends



What's the show about?
A group of mid-20 New Yorkers lives in close proximity and spends much time either at Monica's or at the nearby coffee house "Central Perk". We see how their life developes until the mid-30s.

"The Pilot" or "The One Where Monica Gets A Roommate"
Ross' wife has just moved out because she found out that she's a lesbian and Ross is devastated. The others (Monica, Phoebe, Chandler and Joey) try to chear him up but then Rachel steps in their life (again) who has just left her to-be-husband at the altar.

My Opinion
As I said before I love that show and I will re-watch it definitively this year.

(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on January 5th, 2008)