Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Elia Kazan
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Fox Movie Channel)
Elia Kazan exposes the horrors of Communism through the eyes of a traveling circus struggling to survive in Czechoslovakia. Fredric March gives a quietly powerful performance as the circus owner who not only keeps the unruly performers in line, but has an audacious plan to cross the frontier into free Bavaria. Gloria Grahame is his wife, who has lost respect for him since he gave in to Communist demands and is having an affair with the macho lion tamer. However, when he reveals his plan for defection she falls in love with him again. The tension builds as he is brought in for questioning by the authorities, some of whom suspect him of being a traitor. The final break across the border by the parade of circus misfits and animals is frighteningly surreal.
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