Christmas is a good time to find forgotten films and this 1953 film has in my opinion little to get excited about. Basically it is a about a Czech circus trying to escape from the bad communists and Fredric March is on a tightrope dodging them to get to Bavaria and so-called freedom. Not a subtle film in any way and the film meanders its way with a good cast poorly used. The circus acts are negligible and one pathetic lion tries to snarl and does his best. Anyone expecting circus thrills forget it and despite a cast of Cameron Mitchell, Gloria Grahame and Terry Moore the scenario is as black and white as the photography and offers them little chance of escaping March's grip on the acting. For some obscure reason it was filmed in Bavaria and we get a glimpse of mountains and pine trees, but I cannot see a justifiable reason in going there. Gloria Grahame is cast as March's bad girl wife ( she has her eye on a virile lion tamer ) and after being slapped hard in the face from March she becomes a loving wife. There is a nauseating shot of ecstasy on her face which made me want to turn the film off. None of the women fare well in the cast and this I found inexcusable. I will refrain from commenting on the politics of the film, and political it is and Elia Kazan piles on the hatred of the bad guys. A fake fight is quite fun, but this sadly is a film to return to oblivion. Even Smetana's ' Ma Vlast ' is badly used in what appeared to me a nude love scene in a river with Cameron Mitchell and Terry Moore. For those who like films based on hatred. A four for Gloria Grahame doing her best. Nasty film with a predictable ending.
Review of Man on a Tightrope
