Under the Big Top (1938)

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.

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

'Under The Big Top' falls under the very, very small subgenre of movies that are not only about circuses, but about acrobats! Let's see, there's Trapeze, The Greatest Show On Earth, and now this movie! This is all about a girl named Penny, who literally grows up in the circus and becomes the BEST Trapeze artist in the WORLD! Actually, when we see the act, it's nothing special, but if the movie says they are, then they must be! Anyways, she is brought up by her aunt, a stage mother if there ever was one, who dictates everything about Penny's life. When she finds out Penny's fooling around with one of the other two male trapeze artists in the act, she is not at all happy, and hey, guess what? Neither is the other male trapeze artist, who had the hots for Penny herself! So there is some great sexual tension going on there, which is fun in a wild environment such as this. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't explore that any further, instead going towards the clichéd 'Will Penny make it in time to rescue her sick Aunt?' routine. But not before finding out the spurned trapeze artist developed an alcohol problem! So so much you could have done with this wild story, but it literally, and I'm sorry for this awful pun, falls on it's face.