Circus World (film)

Circus World
film poster by Frank McCarthy
Directed by	Henry Hathaway
Produced by	Michal Waszynski Samuel Bronston
Written by	Ben Hecht Julian Halevy James Edward Grant
Starring	John Wayne Claudia Cardinale Rita Hayworth Lloyd Nolan John Smith Richard Conte
Music by	Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography	Jack Hildyard
Editing by	Dorothy Spencer
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 25, 1964 (1964-06-25)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9 million (estimate)

Circus World, also known as Samuel Bronston's Circus World, is a 1964 drama film made by the independent production company Samuel Bronston Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Samuel Bronston, with Michal Waszynski as executive producer.

The screenplay was by Ben Hecht, Julian Halevy and James Edward Grant, from a story by Philip Yordan and Nicholas Ray. Its music score was by Dimitri Tiomkin and the cinematography by Jack Hildyard. The film was made in Super Technirama 70 and shown at some venues in Cinerama.

It starred John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth, along with Lloyd Nolan, John Smith and Richard Conte.

The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Song for Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington (lyrics), while Rita Hayworth was nominated for the Best Actress award.

Plot

At the turn of the twentieth century, circus owner Matt Masters (John Wayne) takes his troupe on a tour of Europe in search of his long-lost love, Lili Alfredo (Rita Hayworth). With him are Lili's daughter, Toni (Claudia Cardinale), whom she abandoned years earlier and whom he has raised as his own, and his faithful friend, Cap Carson (Lloyd Nolan).

The circus is lost in a sinking ship, but Masters manages to salvage part of it. With the help of some European acts, he puts together a new show. Masters ultimately finds Lili, so mother and daughter are reunited.

Production notes

• This was Wayne's last film before his lung cancer operation.
• It was speculated that at the time this film was made, Rita Hayworth may have already been suffering the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. She was often late and had trouble remembering her lines and it was reported she was often drunk and abusive to those on the set. John Wayne had previously looked forward to working with her, but it was said he came to despise her behavior.
• David Niven was originally cast as Cap Carson, but withdrew from the film.
• Frank Capra was originally going to direct, but quit during pre-production over disagreements with Wayne's favored screenwriter, James Edward Grant.

In popular culture

• The film was the basis for a novel by the Spanish author Juan Miñana which was originally published in 1999 with the Spanish title Noticias del mundo real (News from the Real World). It is about two young Spanish law students who search the city of Barcelona for main actor John Wayne who has not returned to the hotel for another day of shooting.

Film Rating

• The film is rated  G  in New Zealand for extra material may offend or disturb.

External links

• Circus World at the Internet Movie Database
• Circus World at AllRovi
• More information at cineramahistory.com