CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

morrison-dylan-fan After watching the tough Sports Drama Blue Chips on Netflix UK,I took at the films page on BBC iPlayer. Checking what was about to be removed,I spotted an interesting-looking circus tale,which led to me putting up the big top.The plot:Caught pick-pocketing at a carnival,Willie is offered the chance to go back stage by Joe Hammond. Caught up in a whirlwind romance,Willie accepts an offer from performer Frank Colloni to be his assistant. Seeing Colloni and Willie get close together,Hammond starts making plans to bring the curtain down on their romance.View on the film:Originally planned for 3D,co-writer/(with Hans Jacoby/Marcy Klauber/Charles Williams/Michael Wilson and Dalton Trumbo) director Kurt Neumann & cinematographer Ernest Haller retain a 3D sense of scale,with the somersaults and other carnival acts diving out of the screen.Shot at the same time as a German version,Neumann sets the stage alight with Melodrama flourishes,as the camera swoons to the seedy lions prowling the backstage. Taking six writers to put the show on,the screenplay never quite finds its footing,with Willie's romances lacking any moments of intimacy or warmth to make them a winning double act. Throwing knives at Willie,the writers display a deliciously merciless side to making Willie's Melodrama as harsh as possible,with everyone that Willie holds dear being thrown to the demons that rule her life. Juggling with Steve Cochran's devilish cad Hammond, Anne Baxter gives a fabulous performance as Willie,thanks to Baxter balancing the show -woman glamour with a taut fragility backstage,as Willie's life becomes the carnival story.

Spikeopath Kurt Neumann directs Carnival Story, starring Anne Baxter, Steve Cochran, Lyle Bettger, George Nader and Jay C. Flippen. Music is by Willy Schmidt-Gentner and cinematography by Ernest Haller.Set in Munich, Germany, plot centres on the workings of Grayson's travelling carnival. The perils of love, infatuation and high diving acts come crashing together.Filmed in Agfacolor/Technicolor and unfurling its narrative in a carnival atmosphere, Carnival Story is pleasing enough on the eyes and ears. That is once you get used to Baxter's German accent that is! Willi (Baxter) is the fulcrum for everything that happens, caught picking the pocket of carnival worker Joe Hammond (Cochran), she ends up getting employed by the owner Charley Grayson (Flippen). From there she starts to literally rise up the ladder of success whilst indulging in a torrid love triangle with Joe and Frank Collini (Bettger).The temperature never gets above lukewarm settings, the narrative getting bogged down by a repetitiveness that grates entering the last third of film. There's much swooning and sexual discord, but it never steams the screen up, this in spite of Cochran's animal magnetism and Baxter's natural sexuality. While Flippen is under used and Bettger unsuited to the role of a swim trunk wearing high diver. It's all a bit flat in story telling terms, even the ending fails to close pic down with thrilling wonder. A missed opportunity here, but fans of Cochran doing bad boy are well served, as are those of us who have lusty lustations for Annie Baxter. 5/10

Snow Leopard The believable atmosphere and some moments of real tension, along with Anne Baxter's starring performance, make "Carnival Story" worth watching despite its somewhat uneven quality overall. It has some strengths, but it leaves you feeling that it could have been improved without too much difficulty.The story has an interesting setting, with the drama and romance taking place in an American traveling show that is touring Germany, having attracted little interest in the US. Although the portrayal of the show and its players uses a number of clichés, in general the atmosphere is believable, and it supplies an effective background to the story. The world of the carnival is self-contained to begin with, and their presence in a foreign country emphasizes their isolation from the 'real world'. Jay C. Flippen plays the show's manager, and his character adds an appropriate air of run-down authority.Anne Baxter stars as the only German native among the main characters, an intense young woman who becomes involved romantically with more than one of the show's employees. In itself, the plot is the same as that in many other movies about romantic rivalry, with Baxter's character torn between the 'good' lover and the 'bad' lover. Baxter herself works well enough in the role, since her restless style fits in with her character here.Most of the other characters, though, remain one-dimensional, and some of the confrontations and tense moments lose something as a result. When the dramatic turns work, it is usually because they take place in an interesting setting, rather than because they have been filmed with any particular skill. The pacing likewise is inconsistent. There are a number of slow stretches that do little of note, but then it does make good use of the recurring high dive scenes, with the pageantry, danger, and tension that they bring.Overall, it has some definite strengths and some obvious weaknesses. It is essentially a formulaic drama about romantic rivalries, with a relatively interesting setting that hides enough of the weaknesses to make it worth seeing.

imogen.chiv As I remember it, this was an exciting movie of the day and it still stands up to the test in my opinion. Steve Cochran was still the right age to look good and so was Anne Baxter. His character has caught up with her again, and they have some history together. She has got a job in a circus with a high diving swimmer. I remember the diver for his unique soft voice. He was the "goody" in the film. Anne Baxters character doesn't want to take up with him again and Steve Cochran sort of become a stalker, hanging around the tent at night and giving a low whistle. The dim witted strong man of the circus is a little in love with her himself and will do anything to protect her. The three main characters are all good looking people which puts this film at it best. There is also the technical and interesting stuff of climbing a high ladder and looking down at a drum of water that looks like you are going to dive into just a teacupful of water for you are seemingly so high. Anne Baxter is also expected to learn how to do this. Steve Cochran is bothering her... And watch out for the Big Wheel. A wonderful film.