The Greatest Show On Earth Analysis
The Greatest Show on Earth, directed by Cecil B. DeMille was nominated for Best Picture by the Academy Awards in 1952. It is about a circus team that tours the world by train with performances all over the country. Brad is the manager of the Circus and is dating Holly, one of the trapeze girls. The conflict in this story comes about when Brad chooses Sebastian, an arrogant trapeze artist, over Holly for the center act I have rated this film through the following criteria. It had to have interesting scenes that evoked emotion in me while watching, I wanted to be able to connect with what the protagonist was feeling, and I wanted it to have a lasting impact on myself. This nominee was one of the longer films for the era as it was over two hours
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After one of the circus shows, it seemed as if all loose ends were tied, but then came the horrible train wreck. Throughout the movie we learned that Buttons was actually a wanted murderer who killed his wife who was dying of cancer. He used the circus as an escape from his past. Early in the movie Buttons told Holly, “You sometimes have to kill the thing you love”. Throughout the movie I become suspicious of Buttons because he would never take off his makeup. Later in the movie, the FBI was going to fingerprint everyone on the train looking to find the suspect as they were hinted he was in the circus. Buttons knew that his time was up and he had to escape before they got to their next destination.They then got into a train crash and immediately I saw him running away from the crash and using it as an escape to try to avoid prison. Right as this was happening, Holly came running to see if Buttons could try to save Brad’s life. Buttons gave in to Holly’s plead and still had the courage to help even while facing possible murder charges. This impacted me significantly because I thought about how Buttons was giving up his life for the chance to save another. He was putting others ahead of himself at all costs. It made me think about how I treat others and how I should put others ahead of myself more
After one of the circus shows, it seemed as if all loose ends were tied, but then came the horrible train wreck. Throughout the movie we learned that Buttons was actually a wanted murderer who killed his wife who was dying of cancer. He used the circus as an escape from his past. Early in the movie Buttons told Holly, “You sometimes have to kill the thing you love”. Throughout the movie I become suspicious of Buttons because he would never take off his makeup. Later in the movie, the FBI was going to fingerprint everyone on the train looking to find the suspect as they were hinted he was in the circus. Buttons knew that his time was up and he had to escape before they got to their next destination.They then got into a train crash and immediately I saw him running away from the crash and using it as an escape to try to avoid prison. Right as this was happening, Holly came running to see if Buttons could try to save Brad’s life. Buttons gave in to Holly’s plead and still had the courage to help even while facing possible murder charges. This impacted me significantly because I thought about how Buttons was giving up his life for the chance to save another. He was putting others ahead of himself at all costs. It made me think about how I treat others and how I should put others ahead of myself more