The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) | |
| Director(s) | Cecil B. DeMille |
| Producer(s) | Cecil B. DeMille, Henry Wilcoxon (associate) |
| Top Genres | Drama, Family, Romance |
| Top Topics | Circus, Romance (Drama), Show Business |
Featured Cast:
The Greatest Show on Earth Overview:
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) was a Drama - Family Film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and produced by Cecil B. DeMille and Henry Wilcoxon.
Academy Awards 1952 --- Ceremony Number 25 (source: AMPAS)
| Award | Recipient | Result |
| Best Costume Design | Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Miles White | Nominated |
| Best Director | Cecil B. DeMille | Nominated |
| Best Film Editing | Anne Bauchens | Nominated |
| Best Picture | Cecil B. DeMille, Producer | Won |
| Best Writing | Fredric M. Frank, Theodore St. John, Frank Cavett | Won |
BlogHub Articles:
The Greatest Show on Earth ( 1952 )
By The Metzinger Sisters on Nov 19, 2016 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film LoversFor Cecil B. DeMille there was no such thing as a regular feature film...it always had to be a spectacle. Circus films were a dime a dozen in the 1930s, but none of them really captured that thrill of seeing a circus in person. A circus was meant to be a spectacle, and the circus itself had to tak... Read full article
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
By Beatrice on Sep 16, 2015 From Flickers in TimeThe Greatest Show on Earth Directed by Cecil B. De Mille Written by Written by Fredric M. Frank, Barr? Lyndon, and Theodore St. John; story by Frank, St. John, and Frank Cavett 1952/USA Paramount Pictures First viewing/Netflix rental I will cut this movie some slack for the circus acts and Jimmy ... Read full article
Classic Films in Focus: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952)
By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 21, 2012 From Virtual ViragoCritics often deride The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) as one of the worst Best Picture winners in Oscar history, but Cecil B. DeMille’s elaborate circus spectacle deserves a better reputation among classic movie fans. Yes, High Noon is the better film, but the blame for choosing the safer pic... Read full article
Classic Films in Focus: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952)
By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 21, 2012 From Virtual ViragoCritics often deride The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) as one of the worst Best Picture winners in Oscar history, but Cecil B. DeMille’s elaborate circus spectacle deserves a better reputation among classic movie fans. Yes, High Noon is the better film, but the blame for choosing the safer pic... Read full article
Classic Films in Focus: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952)
By Jennifer Garlen on Sep 21, 2012 From Virtual ViragoCritics often deride The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) as one of the worst Best Picture winners in Oscar history, but Cecil B. DeMille’s elaborate circus spectacle deserves a better reputation among classic movie fans. Yes, High Noon is the better film, but the blame for choosing the safer pic... Read full article
See all The Greatest Show on Earth articles
Quotes from
Narrator: We bring you the circus, pied piper whose magic tunes greet children of all ages, from six to 60, into a tinsel and spun-candy world of reckless beauty and mounting laughter and whirling thrills; of rhythm, excitement and grace; of blaring and daring and dance; of high-stepping horses and high-flying stars. But behind all this, the circus is a massive machine whose very life depends on discipline and motion and speed. A mechanized army on wheels, that rolls over any obstacle in its path, that meets calamity again and again, but always comes up smiling. A place where disaster and tragedy stalk the big top, haunt the backyard, and ride the circus train. Where death is constantly watching for one frayed rope, one weak link, or one trace of fear. A fierce, primitive fighting force that smashes relentlessly forward against impossible odds. That is the circus. And this is the story of the biggest of the big tops, and of the men and women who fight to make it "The Greatest Show on Earth."
Angel: [Sebastian almost drives his car into the elephant Angel is riding] Hey! Don't crowd, mister! Can't you see an elephant or do I have to paint her red?
Sebastian: I was blinded by the memory of a beautiful night in Paris.
Angel: [to the other circus performers] Blow up your water wings, girls, here comes the big wave!
[to Sebastian]
Angel: How come no husband ever shot you?
Sebastian: I never offer a sitting target.
Angel: I thought I'd seen the last of you when you got mixed up with that wire walker in Lisbon.
Sebastian: You will never see the last of me, Angel.
Klaus: ANGEL!
Angel: That will be arranged when you meet Klaus.
Angel: Did he say you were like cognac? All fire in zee glass?
Holly: No, he said I was like champagne. I made his head spin.
Angel: Yeah, only you'll be the one who winds up with a hangover.
read more quotes from The Greatest Show on Earth...
Facts about
When Mary Pickford presented the film's producer Cecil B. DeMille with the Oscar for Best Picture (Thursday, March 19, 1953), not only was it the first time the Academy Awards ceremonies had ever been televised, it was also Pickford's very first television appearance.
Although the film was shot in 35mm three-strip Technicolor, Paramount did shoot some test footage on the set using its newly developed wide-screen process Vistavision which ran 35mm film horizontally through the camera, exposing two standard frames, eight perforations wide. The footage still resides in the Paramount film library.
read more facts about The Greatest Show on Earth...
