Carnival Story (1954)

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Well, the story is not exactly unique. Beauty and the beast but maybe with a twist.The womanizer "business-man" gets his justice in the end and it is served by the idiot as far as mainstream intelligence goes. This idiot does however know what is right and what is wrong and why you have to act upon it. That is another kind of intelligence - moral intelligence and today very few possess it. But through pain their number may increase, maybe reaching the point of no return and then there will be changes. But if they don't hold on to it and teach it to their children, the passion will die again and we will have rich and poor again.If we want a society, in which the giant idiot will have his place of respect, we can have it. But then all material inequality has to go forever and are we up for it? Are we up for treating our fellow human beings as goals in themselves and not means for our goals? Are we up for justice? You don't need main-stream intelligence to know what is right. In fact, that kind of intelligence may fool you. It has its place and could be a tool for justice but without the intelligence of love, which is always the love for justice, main-stream intelligence is good for nothing.A simple story but somehow handled so that I could see the association that made out this review.

Unpretentious describes this film production fairly well. But that's consistent with the setting: a small, insular world, wherein a variety of atypical and colorful people move in and out of scenes, as the plot dictates. These people, for the most part, are tricksters and hangers-on whose only claim to fame relates to some physical trait, or some bizarre gift or craft.More talented than most is Frank (Lyle Bettger) who high dives into a burning tank of water. Then there's Joe (Steve Cochran), an announcer who tries to convince attendees to part with a few cents, to see the magic of the headless wonder, or some such. But one of Joe's attendees, a young, attractive woman named Willie (Anne Baxter), follows Joe to a snack stand, whereupon she proceeds to swipe Joe's wallet from his back pocket. With his money, she buys some food. But he catches her. And in so doing, he takes a liking to her. She's destitute, you see, and shapely. And she'll do anything to make some money, even if it's just wash dishes in the carnival's kitchen.That's the setup for this modest melodrama, wherein Willie learns about life in the circus and, in the process, finds that love can be confusing with so many guys attracted to her. At one point, she concedes hopelessly: "I don't know what love is". Will things work out for Willie? Will she find true, lasting love?"Carnival Story" is largely a cinematic vehicle for Anne Baxter. I've always liked her. But in this film she overacts a lot. Steve Cochran gives a more relaxed, naturalistic performance, as does Lyle Bettger. Tension derives from Frank's high-dive act, and the rivalry among the various guys drawn to Willie. The film's visuals are acceptable, if unremarkable. Sets seem realistic. Toward the end, the plot trends melodramatically hokey.A prospective viewer needs to keep expectations reasonably low for this film. It's got melodrama and tension. It's got several fine actors. It's got an unusual setting. And that may be enough, for this small, low-concept story.

This film was produced by the King Brothers, guys who existed just outside the mainstream of Hollywood, and was directed by Kurt Neumann, a guy who came from Germany and apparently found himself back in his homeland at the time of the production of this film. It stars B movie legend Steve Cochran paired with the great character actress Ann Baxter in a rare leading role. B movie fans will also enjoy one of the more substantial performances of Tor Johnson's career -- he plays the carnival strongman who cares for Baxter's character, the oddly named "Willie", and watches over her like a dark angel. Lyle Bettger also gets one of his best roles here, as a high diver who teacher Willie the tricks of his trade and ends up being betrayed by her because of her passion for Joe (Cochran).The story itself is fairly typical and won't really please anyone who's looking for fundamentally surprising or interesting story elements. However the script itself is pretty juicy and high in quality. There are a lot of memorable lines of dialog, such as when Joe tells Willie, "we're not going to let a little thing like you being married get between us, are we?" As that line would indicate, Cochran is playing a true blue heel in this one, and he goes to town with it. Ultimately he's not a very interesting character compared to Baxter's, but he plays it well. Baxter barely looks like the actress I remember, but partly that's because of the garish color process used for this film. Roan's DVD seems to have been made from a print instead of a negative as well and there are chunks of a few scenes missing and damaged.This film was probably not ever going to be one of the greats, but speaking as a fan of circus and carnival type movies it is good for what it is. I like it better than bigger budget films from the time like DeMille's "Greatest Show on Earth" and the Lancaster/Hecht" "Trapeze." In some ways that's because the very seediness of the production actually lends itself better to the carny aesthetic.

A young girl (Anne Baxter) runs away and joins a traveling carnival troupe in Colonia (Germany), an American-owned circus in all its beautiful and sadness in the setting . She falls in love with her employer (Steve Cochran) and is hired by the ringmaster (J.C. Flippen). Later on , she is contracted by a somersault artist (Lyle Bettger), who teaches her the leap routine and soon becomes the main attraction but he has a fatal accident . Anne Baxter as an aerial acrobat dropping to swimming pool is interested in both men.The film is a melodramatic and romantic tale with the classic triangular love story through an European tour and meshing drama with events offstage . It deals with an U.S. carnival in Colonia sets the scene for sin , sex , passion and melodrama . The movie is wrought with romance and glamour but is a simple and tragic story about a scheming young girl and the men of whom she takes advantage . This dramatic flick packs an exciting final adding the beauty-beast myth . Extraordinary cast and good performances , especially from Anne Baxter and George Nader as a journalist , both of whom are top-notch under Kurt Neumann's correct direction . Furthermore , some scenes the actors perform their own stunts . After that , George Nader stayed in Germany where had success playing Jerry Cotton , a solid entry in German crime series . Fine camera work with exquisite images in Agfacolor and superb European location by cameraman Ernest Haller . The motion picture was well directed by Kurt Neumann , known director of classic Sci-Fi (The fly , Rocketship X-M , Kronos) , besides he realized at the same time the German version titled ¨Circus of love¨ with Curt Jurgens and Eva Bartok in similar roles .