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Trapeze

1956, Movie, NR, 105 mins

Trapeze: Review

Despite some stiff acting and a ponderous script, this was a smash at the box office, if only because audiences got to see Lancaster, himself a former circus performer, playing against the attractive Lollobrigida and the handsome Curtis. Lancaster is a lame acrobat who is famed for having done the impossible, a "triple" off the trapeze before having the accident that caused his limp. Two somersaults in mid-air are a commonplace, but a triple is the stuff of which high flyer's dreams are made. He's working as a rigger for a Parisian circus when Curtis arrives, eager to meet Lancaster and learn from him. Curtis is the son of a former circus friend of Lancaster and wants to learn to do a triple. Lancaster does everything he can to discourage Curtis, but circus-owner Gomez would love to have some enormous starring act to help business. After a while, Curtis wears Lancaster down and the older man decides that he might recapture his own glory by helping Curtis achieve the feat. The two men become very close. Lollobrigida is a scheming member of a tumbling act who would like to have the fame and fortune that trapeze artists merit. She begins using her wiles on Lancaster, but he has no interest, so she turns to the more naive Curtis. The high-wire work is very exciting and Reed's direction of the triple is breathtaking. These assets more than compensate for the shortcomings of the remainder of the movie. Seen briefly is Johnny Puleo, the little person who served for so many years as one of the Harmonica Rascals with Borah Minevitch. The ambience of circus life is quite well conveyed. leave a comment