The Big Draw (1961)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The big attraction |
| Original title | The big show |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1961 |
| length | 104, 113 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | James B. Clark |
| script | Ted Sherdeman |
| production | James B. Clark Ted Sherdeman |
| music |
Paul Sawtell Bert Shefter |
| camera | Otto Heller |
| cut | Benjamin Laird |
| occupation | |
| |
The big attraction is a circus melodrama by James B. Clark, filmed in Germany in 1960 , with Esther Williams , Cliff Robertson and Robert Vaughn in the leading roles. The story is based on the novel I'll Never Go There Any More by Jerome Weidman .
action
Josef Everard arrives at Munich Central Station. His path leads directly to the family's own circus. His brother Klaus has been in charge there for some time and greets him with cool courtesy. Josef has just served a prison sentence for his late father, the old circus director Bruno Everard, and is now demanding his share of the business. But Klaus wants to get rid of Josef as soon as possible and offers Josef to pay him off with 60,000 DM so that he can start a fresh start elsewhere. Disgusted, Josef leaves Klausen's office. Standing in the ring, he remembers the time when he was the star artist in the ring ...
Flashback: Bruno Everard leads his traveling circus with an iron hand. He has four children, three sons and a daughter, all of whom also work in the family business and sometimes perform in the arena. There is constant tension between the individual family members, especially Klaus thinks that the old man prefers Josef. In order to finally get his father's attention and recognition, Klaus decides to leave his girlfriend, the aerial acrobat Carlotta Martinez, and instead marry Teresa Vizzini, whose father Pietro is the owner of an animal show. For some time now, Bruno Everard has been eager to team up with Pietro to give his circus company more oomph and sensation. In the meantime Josef has fallen in love with a rich American woman whom he met as a circus visitor. Hillary Allen is also interested in him, but demands that he leave circus life behind to come with her.
Bruno Everard also worries his daughter Gerda. She marries the soldier Eric Solden, who would like to try his hand at being a trapeze artist. When Teresa Vizzini learns the real reasons why Klaus married her, she is so desperate that she commits suicide by going into the ring to see the polar bears locked in a cage and is killed by one of her during a performance . Klaus's ex, Carlotta, almost dies when she does her new tightrope act. The reason for the near disaster was the faulty structure. Josef takes the blame for this almost fatal mistake and thus saves his father from serving a prison sentence. Instead of him, Josef Everard is now sentenced to go behind bars for five years. Klaus, Hans and Fredrik use the general weakness of the old man, who has each transferred 25 percent of his shares to his children, and the absence of his supposed favorite son Josef, to finally take over general control of the family business. When Bruno himself developed ambitions to perform again as a trapeze artist under the big top, he suffers a heart attack while hanging on the trapeze and dies as a result.
Back in the present: Standing in the ring, Josef has finished with his memories of his circus career and his father when Klaus appears from behind in the semi-dark auditorium, armed with a row of throwing knives. Klaus once again urges Josef to leave the circus and Munich forever, otherwise he cannot guarantee anything. Klaus has sinister intentions, especially since Josef does not show himself ready to disappear without a sound. There is a life-and-death struggle. When Klaus tries to commit fratricide, he comes too close to the bear cage and, like his bride Teresa, dies a cruel death in the paw of a polar bear. In the final scene, Josef and his two remaining brothers Hans and Fredrik are standing in the ring as part of a new joint act: Hilary and their son, little Bruno, watch him enthusiastically.
Production notes
The big attraction was shot in 1960 in Bavaria (Bavaria-Film-Atelier) or in Circus Krone and premiered on May 10, 1961 in New York. The German premiere was on July 14th of the same year.
The film buildings in Munich's Bavaria Studios were designed by Ludwig Reiber and Max Seefelder , whose last cinema work this was. Walter Rühland was responsible for the sound. Teddy Rossi-Turai created the costumes , Heinz Rühmann's long-time make-up artist Josef Coesfeld designed the make-up.
Hollywood's former aquatic film star Esther Williams largely ended her acting career after this film. She was even given another short swimming scene (in a swimming pool).
After about 15 minutes, Harald Leipnitz has a very short appearance as the companion of Esther Williams as a guest at a circus performance. It was his unnamed screen debut.
synchronization
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Hillary Allen | Esther Williams | Gisela Trowe |
| Josef Everard | Cliff Robertson | Arnold Marquis |
| Klaus Everard | Robert Vaughn | Eckart Dux |
| Bruno Everard | Nehemiah Persoff | Herbert Grünbaum |
| Frederik | Franco Andrei | Jochen Schröder |
Reviews
Halliwell's Film Guide characterized the film as follows: "Another remake of" House of Strangers "... Not too bad for a typical circus melodrama".
The film service says: "The conflicts, made according to a template, presented with sentimentality and exaggeration, are reasonably entertaining through attractive circus numbers in a typically colorful sensational show."
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : The large personal dictionary of films , Volume 4, p. 670. Berlin 2001
- ↑ The big attraction in the German dubbing index
- ^ Leslie Halliwell : Halliwell's Film Guide, Seventh Edition, New York 1989, p. 104
- ↑ The big attraction. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 1, 2019 .
Web links
- The big attraction at the Internet Movie Database (English)