Trapeze(1956)
NR
05/30/1956 (US)Drama, Romance1h 45m6.2
"High...High...High...Above Them All! - in excitement! - in spectacle! - in fire, flesh and fury!"
Overview
A pair of men try to perform the dangerous "triple" in their trapeze act. Problems arise when the duo is made into a trio following the addition of a sexy female performer.
Carol Reed
Director
James R. Webb
Screenplay
Ben Hecht
Writer
Wolf Mankowitz
Writer
Top Billed Cast
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A review by John Chard
6.0
Written on August 4, 2019
Great role for Burt in Carol Reed's love tryst circus plot.
Great curio piece with Burt Lancaster being a former circus performer, the film was something of a big success on its initial release. It's not hard to see why either, because it's a solid enough story backed up by great aerial sequences set to the backdrop of circus life. The love triangle between the three leads (our intrepid trapeze artists) that threatens to envelope them with disastrous consequences, is never less than intriguing, and of course we get led into a breath holding finale that achieves the desired effect.
Sadly for me the acting here lets the film down, Lancaster does "OK" and holds the film together, and I really liked Thomas Gomez as the money orientated Bouglione, but it is here is where the Tony Curtis detractors get their ammunition from. Curtis is very wooden and it's hard to believe this is the same actor from The Defiant Ones & The Boston Strangler. Katy Jurado is reduced to being a bit part player, and as the female lead, Gina Lollobrigida looks gorgeous but delivers her lines in unconvincing fashion.
This is good honest entertainment, with some exuberant set-pieces that raise the pulses, but ultimately it becomes bogged down by some less than memorable acting. 6/10
Great curio piece with Burt Lancaster being a former circus performer, the film was something of a big success on its initial release. It's not hard to see why either, because it's a solid enough story backed up by great aerial sequences set to the backdrop of circus life. The love triangle between the three leads (our intrepid trapeze artists) that threatens to envelope them with disastrous consequences, is never less than intriguing, and of course we get led into a breath holding finale that achieves the desired effect.
Sadly for me the acting here lets the film down, Lancaster does "OK" and holds the film together, and I really liked Thomas Gomez as the money orientated Bouglione, but it is here is where the Tony Curtis detractors get their ammunition from. Curtis is very wooden and it's hard to believe this is the same actor from The Defiant Ones & The Boston Strangler. Katy Jurado is reduced to being a bit part player, and as the female lead, Gina Lollobrigida looks gorgeous but delivers her lines in unconvincing fashion.
This is good honest entertainment, with some exuberant set-pieces that raise the pulses, but ultimately it becomes bogged down by some less than memorable acting. 6/10
