Rent Trapeze (1956)

Getting a Grip - Trapeze review by CH

Frivolous as this might appear, it is impossible to watch any circus film without thinking of the climactic scene of At The Circus which finds Margaret Dumont launched from a cannon to join Groucho, Harpo and others, their hands and heels clutching one another's, as they swing from a single trapeze. How they managed this is something one does not endeavour to discover. Well known, though, is that former circus star, Burt Lancaster himself had performed upon a trapeze: as he had done, his character suffers an accident. Unlike Lancaster himself, who turned to acting, his character becomes a trainer, his latest pupil an upstart Tony Curtis who is in a quest to perfect the perilous triple. Something which could do without their becoming part of a love triangle with the schemingly sultry Gina Lollabriggida.

How will it all end? The suspense is - literally - up in the air. The best scenes are those above the safety net (although honourable mention must be made of Sid James as a man who handles snakes which could become more ferocious than quiescent if he were to give one of his trademark cackles). The scenes elsewhere in the tent and the Paris of the outside world pale, they have none of the charge which Lancaster and Curtis were soon to bring to Sweet Smell of Success. If one missed the opening credits of Trapeze, one might not readily guess its director was Carol Reed - and one wonders whether the final scene, with its long walk, turns a variant on that which makes The Third Man's rather more heartbreaking.

Swingers. - Trapeze review by Steve

This transfers the conventions of the sport film to a circus. Burt Lancaster plays an embittered, alcoholic former trapeze flyer who was grounded after an accident attempting the ultimate, the triple somersault. Tony Curtis is the young gun who arrives in Paris to learn the triple off the master, and perhaps save him from self destruction.

They are joined by another archetype. Gina Lollobrigida is a hot tempered Italian acrobat who wants to break into their team. She gets between the two men and threatens the purity their act with her showbiz glamour. They become a threesome in the air and on the ground. The implication of homosexuality between the men is subdued, but still present.

It's the best circus film there is. While it is full of genre clichés (we don't get a sad clown) these are made fun by great star performances, and spectacular action photography, in Technicolor. Carol Reed captures the flaking exoticism of the ring and the seediness of their assignations in trashy Parisian hotels. It's a sexy melodrama.

Gina is fabulous in her sequinned leotards. The sassy dialogue uses the ecstasy of the high wire act as ominous innuendo for sex, which makes the film feel quite noirish. Maybe not one of (former trapeze artist) Burt Lancaster's more prestigious roles, but it's entertaining and a reminder of his imposing physicality and athleticism.