GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - 1952

“The Greatest Show on Earth” is a story about the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The movie showed actual circus acts and a behind-the-rings look at the massive logistics effort which made big top circuses possible. The film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center-ring, and Charlton Heston as the circus manager running the show. James Stewart also stars as a mysterious clown who never removes his make-up, even between shows. In addition to the film actors, 1400 members of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Circus' troupe appear in the film, along with hundreds of animals.