Circus World (1964)

***John Wayne takes a circus to tour Europe at the turn-of-the-century***

This isn’t great like “The Greatest Show on Earth” from a dozen years earlier, but it fills the bill if you’re in the mood for a quaint circus flick. It’s on par with “Trapeze” and “The Big Circus” with the difference being that the events take place in 1899. As such, there’s an Old West Show element along with the expected clowns, animals, trapeze and high wire acts.

Claudia Cardinale was 25yo during shooting, but passes well for the age of her character, who (I’m guessing) is in her late teens. Meanwhile Rita Hayworth was 45 during filming and still in good shape.

Besides Wayne and the two females, the highlight is the entertaining circus stunts, including the amazing lion act. A plus is that the film leaves you with a good feeling.  

It’s a tad overlong at 2h 22m (with a 3m Intermission) and was shot Sep-Feb 1963-1964 in Spain.

GRADE: B-