A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Greatest Show on Earth – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

I actually love cue marks. As to a bit of detritus, you can get to 95% clean. To reach 96, add 25% to the budget. No matter how much cleaning one performs, once a certain size minus density is cleaned, those slightly smaller come to the fore.

Okay. This movie just looks considerably dirtier than I've become accustomed to seeing with transfers of older films and I wasn't sure if there was something "unavoidable" about these spots and specks.

I almost forgot how boring this movie is. I'll never get over the fact this campy 2.5-hour commercial for Ringling Bros. beat "High Noon" and "Singin' in the Rain" for BP!

 

[RICK BOND]

Okay. This movie just looks considerably dirtier than I've become accustomed to seeing with transfers of older films and I wasn't sure if there was something "unavoidable" about these spots and specks.

I almost forgot how boring this movie is. I'll never get over the fact this campy 2.5-hour commercial for Ringling Bros. beat "High Noon" and "Singin' in the Rain" for BP!

I like the movie, but I think The Quiet Man should have Won for Best Picture of 1952 !

 

[Bill Fisher]

it's just plain fun, much like the Circus itself. sometimes the Oscar goes to the film that gave people the most pleasure--and the one that was gangbusters at the box office. THE SOUND OF MUSIC is such a film.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I like the movie, but I think The Quiet Man should have Won for Best Picture of 1952 !

I like "Quiet Man" a whole lot more than "Greatest Show", but I don't think it's in the same class as "Noon" or "Rain".

It's enjoyable, though!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

it's just plain fun, much like the Circus itself. sometimes the Oscar goes to the film that gave people the most pleasure--and the one that was gangbusters at the box office. THE SOUND OF MUSIC is such a film.

I agree that it's nice when a "plain fun" movie wins BP, as the Academy tends to prefer SERIOUS!!! movies.

But I find zero "fun" about "Greatest Show".

It's about 45 minutes of story and character development spread to 152 minutes, along with silly dialogue and overwrought performances.

How much of this movie is just shots of the circus? Like half? Or more?

That's all I remember: endless shots of circus acts and parades!

Gloria Grahame looked pretty hot as a redhead.

That's the only positive I attach to this awful, awful movie!

 

[Alan Tully]

Ha, so basically...you don't like it

That's fine, we all like different things. I don't like some of the finest films ever made, & do like some right old turkeys. It's all part of the mix.

 

[Riddles]

Looking forward to this release, and glad to know it's technically sound.

I think the movie is not great in the slightest, but at the same time it unmistakably it holds a certain... Fascination. It's just so larger-than-life and chock full of interesting players (Stewart, Heston, Grahame, Wilde), I couldn't possibly call it boring. Besides, if it played an important part in sparking an interest in cinema in the likes of Steven Spielberg, it must have something going for it.

(As for the Oscars, the biggest mystery to me is how Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful wasn't even nominated for Best Picture and Director!)

 

[warnerbro]

It's a very entertaining movie, but did not deserve best picture against SINGIN' IN THE RAIN or others that were released that year. I think the best thing about the film is the historical record of how a real circus operated during that period.

 

[jayembee]

I had to check as I did not know Unconquered was on Blu-ray.
I do see an Elephant Films region free blu and a German Explosive Media region B, but no USA release. Is that correct?

Seems like something that Kino will get around to sooner or later.

 

[jayembee]

I actually love cue marks.

So do I. They seem as integral to the presentation as anything else.

People always say, "I want to see it as it was when I saw it in the theater." For most movies, "when I saw it in the theater" includes cue marks.

 

[RichMurphy]

I actually love cue marks.

When I watched MANK on Netflix, I had to rewind a part of the film to confirm that I was actually seeing cue marks at times. (Obviously fake ones).

Maybe the film received all those Oscar nominations this week because there are lots of cue mark fans in the Academy. LOL

 

[roxy1927]

Singin' In the Rain was just another light hearted colorful MGM Gene Kelly musical when it came out. It was hardly going be considered for BP. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if its box office ticket sales were less than expected and except for Seven Brides began the decline of the MGM musical as a surefire hit. It was Gene Kelly's last popular film as a star. He was to follow it with things like Invitation to the Dance, Brigadoon, and It's Always Fair Weather. They have their pleasures but they were not going to cause a stampede to the box office. In the movies I found Greatest Show enormously entertaining where the spectacle can wow you. At Radio City it managed to open immediately after the Christmas show and managed to play for months until the opening of the Easter show! Which was you guessed it Singin' In the Rain.

 

[Matt Hough]

(As for the Oscars, the biggest mystery to me is how Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful wasn't even nominated for Best Picture and Director!)

Yeah, MGM had an embarrassment of riches that year. Two of the greatest movies about the art of making movies ever made, and they nominate Ivanhoe (not a bad film but no more worthy than The Greatest Show on Earth to me). Maybe MGM thought a lush spectacle based on a classic book might better compete for Best Picture, but it was not a worthy candidate in comparison to Singin' in the Rain or The Bad and the Beautiful.

 

[Robin9]

Yeah, MGM had an embarrassment of riches that year. Two of the greatest movies about the art of making movies ever made, and they nominate Ivanhoe (not a bad film but no more worthy than The Greatest Show on Earth to me). Maybe MGM thought a lush spectacle based on a classic book might better compete for Best Picture, but it was not a worthy candidate in comparison to Singin' in the Rain or The Bad and the Beautiful.

You will, of course, have noticed Singin' In The Rain and The Bad And The Beautiful are out on Blu-ray disc while Ivanhoe languishes in standard definition only! Time heals everything . . . .

(In truth I'd love a Warner Archive Blu-ray disc of Ivanhoe: Elizabeth Taylor via Freddie Young!!!)

 

[Nick*Z]

Fans of the circus should love it. I'm one of those who can still not figure out how it won Best Picture.

I suspect it won Best Picture because Hollywood was gearing up for a post-war decade of spectacle over substance, as subsequent Best Picture winner, Around the World in 80 Days attests to. Personally, I've always favored DeMille's circus epic to Todd's prolonged test footage for his patented Todd A-O process, previously made whole by the debut of Oklahoma! Don't misunderstand. I love both movies. I just think Todd's is the weaker of the two, especially when Anastasia, The King and I, The Ten Commandments, and Friendly Persuasion were the rivals. The only bigger travesty of that year would have been if King Vidor's atrocious and leaden launch of War and Peace had taken home the coveted honor.

 

[Alan Tully]

You will, of course, have noticed Singin' In The Rain and The Bad And The Beautiful are out on Blu-ray disc while Ivanhoe languishes in standard definition only! Time heals everything . . . .

(In truth I'd love a Warner Archive Blu-ray disc of Ivanhoe: Elizabeth Taylor via Freddie Young!!!)

Oh yes! And while we're thinking of 1952, let's pair it with Scaramouche.

I don't really understand all this stuff about the Oscars. Many (most) of the finest films ever made (& the best performances, best music scores, best production design & so on) never got a sniff of an Oscar.

 

[lark144]

Oh yes! And while we're thinking of 1952, let's pair it with Scaramouche.

I don't really understand all this stuff about the Oscars. Many (most) of the finest films ever made (& the best performances, best music scores, best production design & so on) never got a sniff of an Oscar.

Yup. If you look today at what are considered the best films, they're often the ones that weren't even nominated.

 

[RICK BOND]

You will, of course, have noticed Singin' In The Rain and The Bad And The Beautiful are out on Blu-ray disc while Ivanhoe languishes in standard definition only! Time heals everything . . . .

(In truth I'd love a Warner Archive Blu-ray disc of Ivanhoe: Elizabeth Taylor via Freddie Young!!!)

Been Waiting for Ivanhoe Forever ! Also Knights of the Round Table, MGM's First Cinemascope film.

 

[RolandL]

Been Waiting for Ivanhoe Forever ! Also Knights of the Round Table, MGM's First Cinemascope film.

 

[roxy1927]

But Knights of the Round Table is as boring as Bosley Crowther said it was when it opened at Radio City. I went to see it at Loew's Jersey and being that I love Ivanhoe it was such a letdown. Also when MGM started its CinemaScope productions there is a noticeable tightening of the purse strings. They have a cheap look. The worst is Seven Brides. Even the Freed/ Minnelli/Kelly Brigadoon looks like they filmed a national tour.