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.

SYNOPSIS

A dazzling, only-by-DeMille spectacle focusing on life with a traveling three-ring circus. Stewart appears in an unfamiliar guise as a clown hiding from his past (as a doctor!), and there is romance and adventure under this big top, too. Look for many guest appearances. DeMille went all out recreating the color and pageantry of the circus, even traveling with Barnum and Bailey to learn the rhythms of big-top life.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Academy Awards 1952 --- Ceremony Number 25 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Costume DesignEdith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Miles WhiteNominated
Best DirectorCecil B. DeMilleNominated
Best Film EditingAnne BauchensNominated
Best PictureCecil B. DeMille, ProducerWon
Best WritingFredric M. Frank, Theodore St. John, Frank CavettWon
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BlogHub Articles:

The Greatest Show on Earth ( 1952 )

By The Metzinger Sisters on Nov 19, 2016 From Silver Scenes - A Blog for Classic Film Lovers

For 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 Time

The 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 Virago

Critics 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 Virago

Critics 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 Virago

Critics 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


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Quotes from

Buttons: Clowns are funny people, they only love once.
Holly: All men aren't that way, even if they act like clowns.


Klaus: Your legs are too thin, your hair is too red, you have lips like a cat. You're no good. You give me too much trouble.
Angel: Flattery rolls right off me.


Klaus: You always have a smile for that high-flying peacock.
Angel: Well, what do you want me to do, cry over him?


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Facts about

Lucille Ball was Cecil B. DeMille's first choice for "Angel", but she became pregnant and was replaced by Gloria Grahame. Paulette Goddard also campaigned strongly for the role but was turned down owing to her reluctance to perform stunt scenes.
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.
Actor William Boyd, who had become enormously popular playing the character Hopalong Cassidy in a series of films and on television, contributed his cameo in this film - as himself - as a favor to director Cecil B. DeMille in repayment for DeMille's having cast him in the showcase role of Simon of Cyrene during DeMille's production of The King of Kings nearly a quarter of a century earlier. The Simon of Cyrene role in the earlier DeMille production had contributed enormously to Boyd's film career.
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