The Greatest Show on Earth (film)
The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 film about the dramatic lives of trapeze artists, a clown, and an elephant trainer that are told against a background of circus spectacle.
- Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Written by Fredric M. Frank, Theodore St. John, and Barré Lyndon.
Mightiest of Motion Pictures! taglines
The Great Sebastian
[edit]- [to Holly, as his blood is being transfused into Brad] If he should make love well after this, pay no attention - it will be me.
Brad Braden
[edit]- [while Buttons is doing first aid] Buttons! If that detective sees you doing this, he won't need fingerprints!
Angel
[edit]- Listen, sugar, the only way that you can keep me warm is to wrap me up in a marriage license.
Other
[edit]- Narrator: [first lines] 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."
- Midway barker: [last lines] That's all, ladies and gentlemen, that's all. Come again to the greatest show on earth. Bring the children. Bring the old folks. You can shake the sawdust off your feet, but you can't shake it outta your heart. Come again, folks. The Greatest Show on Earth. Come again.
Dialogue
[edit]- [Phyllis is having her hair washed by Birdie as Sebastian approaches]
- Phyllis: Why is it whenever he's around, I'm all wet?
- Birdie: In more ways than one.
- Buttons: Clowns are funny people, they only love once.
- Holly: All men aren't that way, even if they act like clowns.
- Angel: You are a sourpuss, aren't you?
- Brad Braden: Yeah.
- Angel: You want to bite somebody?
- Brad Braden: Yeah.
- Angel: Well, pick your spot.
- Sebastian: Why are you in make-up?
- Buttons: Why are you The Great Sebastian?
- 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] 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: [shouting] Angel!
- Angel: That will be arranged when you meet Klaus.
- Holly: [singing] When things go wrong, and life's no song, and you're flat on your back, that doesn't mean you have to lie there: be a jumping jack!
- Buttons: [singing] Keep on the hop, and if you flop, and everything looks black, stand on your head and holler "hi there!" Be a jumping jack!
- Holly: When things go up, they must come down, and also visa verse. If things look bad, don't fret and frown - they could be ten times worse!
- Buttons: Your train of luck, it may get stuck if something's on the track; give a good jump and you'll get by there...
- Holly, Buttons: Be a jumping jack!
- Buttons' Mother: [just after giving gifts to circus spectators, Buttons secretly goes to his Mother and they whisper to each other] They've been around again, asking questions.
- Buttons: [whispering] I know Mother. They'll never find me, behind this nose.
- Buttons' Mother: [whispering] Be very careful, dear.
- Buttons: Now, how about a nice smile, that I can remember until next year?
- Buttons' Mother: God be with you my boy.
- Buttons: It's all right Mother.
- [Buttons hugs her and starts acting like a clown again]
- Klaus: You always have a smile for that high-flying peacock.
- Angel: Well, what do you want me to do, cry over him?
- [Holly and Sebastian are one-upping each other on the trapeze]
- Buttons: How long do you think this can go on before something happens?
- Brad Braden: It's the circus, isn't it?
- Buttons: Do you believe in prayer?
- Brad Braden: And practice.
- 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.
- 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.
Taglines
[edit]- Mightiest of Motion Pictures!
- Thrill to Cecil B. DeMille's pageantry and excitement!
- Love! Laughter! Thrills! Wonders! Suspense! Spectacle! Heart!
- The motion picture for everyone!
Cast
[edit]
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