Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

writers_reign I acquired this via a boxed set of six Rita Hayworth films offered at a ridiculous price. Like the majority of boxed sets there were a couple of half-decent efforts - in this case Gilda, You'll Never Get Rich and The Lady From Shanghai, plus a couple of dogs. Circuses have never appealed to me, I can take or leave Duke Wayne and Claudia Cardinale; Lloyd Nolan is invariably good but he seldom if ever carried a film, and Rita was down to third billing so I didn't figure I was missing much. Now that I've finally seen it it's not as bas as it might have been, which is not the same as saying I'll watch it again. Rita arguably comes off best, not least in her early scenes where she plays a character who has lost her self-respect and more or less has to act as opposed to just looking glamorous. The plot dredges up just about every cliché there is, Richard Conte is wasted and that's about all there is to say.

jjnxn-1 Worth seeing for the odd pairing of John Wayne and Rita Hayworth. They actually interact well but Rita's part is minor considering her star status, by this point she was beginning to really suffer with memory loss and her scenes were a trial to complete, and the story is weak. Claudia is lovely but totally unbelievable as Duke's daughter speaking with her natural Italian accent while supposedly being raised by him, he of course talks like John Wayne. Not a terrible film but diffuse and without a strong point of view, that may be because the production was fraught with issues, begun by Frank Capra and finished by Henry Hathaway there was no clear vision to the shape what the film was supposed to offer.

MartinHafer Apart from JET PILOT and THE CONQUERER, this is my choice for worst John Wayne film once he became a bona fide star. Sure, some of his very early B-movies were rough and silly, but considering he was young and had little star power, I wouldn't count these films. Plus, despite their shortcomings, the B-westerns were fun. CIRCUS WORLD, on the other hand just isn't any fun. Imagine, someone making a movie about circuses and there being no fun at all in the film...as well as some of the worst writing I've seen in an A-movie...ever.The movie already starts out with a major handicap with the casting. While Claudia Cardinale is a lovely woman, she was 102% wrong for the film. She is supposed the to be the daughter of an American and an Italian who was raised since a very early age by John Wayne in the United States. So, why does she have this French accent?!?! She sounds NOTHING like Wayne (who raised her) or her mother (Rita Hayworth--who abandoned her) or her long-dead Italian father. What gives?! Apart from that, the writing was the single worst problem with the film. Much of the dialog was clichéd, unbelievable and silly. Frankly, considering the considerable clout Wayne had at the time, it's amazing he'd have allowed such a terribly written script. If you read the trivia on IMDb, director Frank Capra left over changes in the script by Wayne--perhaps it WAS a good script until he "fixed it" but we'll never know for sure. The problems extend from scene to scene, where some characters (especially the emotionally labile Miss Cardinale) jump from one emotion or motivation to another. There simply is no consistency. For example, late in the film, Cardinale goes nuts and tells Wayne and Hayworth that she hates them. Then, 30 seconds later, she is clinging to them and all is well. This is the sort of emotional "flexibility" that you'd expect...in a mental patient! Also, many times, plots are simply lost in the shuffle. For a 2-1/4 hour movie, you'd think there'd be time to work out these dangling plot elements!! For example, the identity of who painted over the posters and how the fire began all seem to be forgotten by the time the movie ends...as well as exactly who hates Wayne and Hayworth so much...as well as why there was the affair many years ago (Wayne keeps saying that he'll have to explain it all to her...and never does). So, the writing is very broad, unbelievable and sloppy--like chunks of the film must have been missing it was that bad.Otherwise, I guess I should say something about what I liked. Some of the animals were cute and some of the big spectacle scenes are not completely horrible (though unnecessary). And,...well,...that's it.A bad film, even if John Wayne lovers would disagree. I love most of his films, but I'm calling it like I see it--a big, bloated, overblown mess. And, by the way, Wayne is completely miscast as well--what is this great western star doing running a circus that goes on tour to Europe?!? By the way, my wife adds that SOMEONE must have had some incriminating pictures of Wayne to get him to make this film. My guess (and she does NOT agree) is that maybe he was kissing a Communist or burning an American flag...it had to have been THAT bad to merit making this film.

kyle_furr I'm a big John Wayne fan and I had never heard of the film. Basically all it is is Wayne dealing with a lot of problems trying to put up a circus. John Wayne and Rita Hayworth are not very good in this movie. For die-hard John Wayne fans only.