Circus of death

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Movie
German title Circus of death
Original title Berserk!
Country of production Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 1967
length 96 minutes
Rod
Director Jim O'Connolly
script Herman Cohen
Aben Kandel
production Herman Cohen for Columbia Pictures
music John Scott
camera Desmond Dickinson
cut Raymond Poulton
occupation

Circus of Death (OT: Berserk! ) Is an English crime film from 1967 with Joan Crawford .

action

Monica Rivers runs a somewhat shabby traveling circus with her business partner Albert Dorando, which tours across the English provinces. When the star of the group had an accident on a tightrope act, Monika, who seemed to have neither heart nor conscience, beats every possible publicity out of the misfortune. She transfers the number to Frank Hawkins, a somewhat seedy, sexually attractive artist. Frank quickly develops romantic feelings for Monica, who, however, behaves in a cool and dismissive manner. Meanwhile, other murders happen, all of which seem to be linked to Monica. At the height of the crisis, Angela Rivers suddenly appears, Monica's daughter-in-law, just sixteen years old. She claims to have been expelled from school. When Frank Hawkins is also murdered, the police succeed in convicting Angela of the crime. She acted out of a feeling of revenge, since her mother never really looked after her, and eventually finds her own death.

background

Joan Crawford made a highly regarded comeback in 1962 after an absence of several years from the big screen, in which she had devoted herself full-time to the concerns of the beverage company Pepsi . Directed by Robert Aldrich and alongside Bette Davis , she starred in What Really Happened to Baby Jane? . The macabre story of two sisters who are chained to each other in a hateful relationship made Crawford a lot of money because it had a percentage of the box office profits. Overall, however, the success permanently ruined her career in the long run. Neither the appearances in Women Who Are Not Allowed to Love nor in The Straitjacket in the following corresponded to the acting skills of Joan Crawford. After 1965, the actress' career in the USA was more or less over. The attempt to get the lead role in a television series failed, as did the hope of further film offers. In the end she accepted for a small fee the offer of the English producer Herman Cohen to take on the lead role in England in the cheaply produced thriller Circus of Death .

The script uses a number of aspects and role models from the long career of the actress. As Monica Rivers, Crawford is once again a tough, hardened career woman who faces all adversities in life with courage. Despite the tough facade, she is a loving mother, whose reckless behavior, however, has led to psychological misconduct in her daughter. This motif has appeared again and again in Crawford's films since Solange a Heart Beats , most recently in The Straitjacket . At the same time, despite her somewhat mature age, the actress is portrayed as a sexually desirable woman who begins an affair with a man 25 years her junior. It is the male character who develops real feelings and speaks of love, while Monica strictly limits herself to the physical aspects of the relationship.

The plot itself has a number of inconsistencies. Although the circus is said to be in constant danger of financial collapse, it still affords a whole herd of elephants and two dozen lions and tigers.

The basic conception of the Circus of Death is a loose remake of the film The Shadow with Rita Hayworth from 1937.

Theatrical release

In the United States, the film proved to be halfway successful with revenues of $ 1,100,000. The foreign income amounted to another 2,095,000 US dollars. Total revenues of $ 3,195,000 made Circus of Death the most successful Herman Cohen film.

Reviews

The contemporary critics even found praise for the leading actress. Howard Thompson wrote in the New York Times :

"[Miss Crawford] is as professional as ever and definitely the racy presenter who ever held a microphone."

Lawrence J. Quirk was very fond of the actress in the Hollywood Screen Parade :

“Her figure is slim as always, her voice warm and engaging. Her legs rival [those of Marlene] Dietrich and her fiery personality puts most purring starlets who call themselves actresses to shame to shame. She is [...] a real film star whose appeal never fades. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joan Crawford ( Memento November 12, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ [Miss Crawford] is professional as usual, and certainly the shapeliest ringmaster ever to handle a ring microphone.
  3. ↑ Her figure is as trim as ever, her voice as warm and compelling, her legs rival Dietrich's, and her tigress' personality puts to shame most of the mewing kittens who call themselves 1968-style screen actresses. She is […] a genuine movie star whose appeal never diminishes.