Under the Big Top (1938)

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The allure of "Under the Big Top" (1938) lies mostly in the fact that it was the last of twelve films directed by D.W. Griffith's cameraman, Karl Brown. Although he was now working for the third-rate production company, Monogram, ex-photographer turned director, Karl Brown, manages to invest the movie with considerable production values. The players, led by Marjorie Main and the lovely Anne Nagel, help too, although perennial heavy Jack La Rue seems somewhat miscast as the noble hero, while Grant Richards makes little impression as the nominal love-interest. I could also wish to have seen a great deal less of George Cleveland. But the fire scenes and the usual circus plot ploys were handled with reasonable assurance. (The Alpha DVD rates at least 8/10).

And sadly, she plays a really unlikable character, a hard-boiled circus owner so cold that when her orphaned niece comes to stay with her, she is too busy telling off her performers that she doesn't even notice the little girl looking up at her. Humorously, the young girl just a minute earlier mistook the fur-clad Main as a bear, but that's where the amusement ends. The young girl grows up to be the lovely Anne Nagel, and Main is so intent on keeping her under her thumb that she disapproves of her romance with another performer, causing them to run off. Then, when Main becomes ill, her circus in danger of being closed, Nagel returns. It's all done very coldly and without any heart. While life under the big top may not be all clowns and balloons, there are better ways to tell the story than through this script written with icicles.

Early in this film, a circus owner (Marjorie Main) is given custody of her sister's young daughter after the sister dies. Soon, the little brat burns down the circus and instead of beating the snot out of the kid, they celebrate because now they can make an insurance claim! I don't think insurance works that way and this seems like a rather dubious message to be passing on the the audience...but, after all, this is a rather dubious sort of film.Years now pass following the fortuitous fire. Now the little brat has grown and is a star on the trapeze. I agree with another reviewer who hard a hard time accepting that she is, according to Main, "the world's greatest aerialist"! She was a lot better than me or my dog, but seemed far from the greatest. But, the actors in this film try their best to pull off the idea that she is terrific--as evidenced by the men who are smitten by her. What happens next is rather unexciting--as can be said of just about every circus film of the era. Dull writing, acting and action spell the recipe for a very sluggish film.And, speaking of dull circus films, this genre has apparently died--thank goodness. Despite winning a totally undeserved Oscar, "The Greatest Show On Earth" was an amazingly dull film whose only advantage over "Under the Big Top" was a glossier look and bigger budget. "Circus World" was likewise very big and glossy--but even duller. About the only circus films that WERE worth seeing were films like "Circus of Fear" and "Berserk" because at least they were meant to be trashy horror films--not trashy and horrible films like the rest! By the way, this is yet another film with a supporting role for a black actor known as 'Snowflake'--a rather demeaning stage name for a man--more like a name you might expect for a trained animal. It's a sad sign of the times in which it was made. Other such ill-named black actors of the era included Farina, Buckwheat, Sleep 'n' Eat, and, of course, Steppin Fetchit. My how times have changed!

It is a Circus story and I will not summarize the plot and thus spoil your enjoyment ( I hate Spoilers). It would have been shown in the as a second feature and preceded the main feature. The director .Karl Brown started his movie career in 1914 working with the great D W Griffith. He become a superb cinematographer and his credits include many of the great films of the Silent Era. He can be seen in the TV series "Holluwood" that is devoted to the silent movie era. I was very impressed by his intelligence and generous good nature. Such men have have made the great heritage of Hollywood movies. Relax and enjoy : Under the Big Top " I only wish that today,s Hollywood would make more pleasant films like this one