"Circus World" (1964) With John Wayne

Last night, I went to bed a bit later than usual. Curiosity got to me after Carl Glass posted his review of Circus World (1964) starring John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth. It was directed by Henry Hathaway.

Up until last night, I hadn't seen Circus World since I was a kid, so I didn't remember it except for the fire sequence. Carl told me that the whole movie can be seen on YouTube. That's what I did.

As far as cinematography goes, Circus World is quite a colorful movie.

Here's Carl's review (which is also my assessment):

I am not the worlds greatest movie critic. When it comes to John Wayne films I am a huge fan. However, not every film he made is in the category of great. For years I avoided watching the 1964 film, 'Circus World' with John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale, Rita Hayworth, Lloyd Nolan, John Smith and Richard Conte. Mostly due to its bad ratings by critics. I decided I was going to watch it this evening with an open mind. 

It wasn't the greatest of productions but the acting was there. You had Rita Hayworth who was a long lost love interest of Wayne that had left him with a daughter of another father. Who protected her for years and a part of the circus. Hayworth didn't show much later into the film. She was on the downslide of her career at that time as was one of my all time favorites, Richard Conte who I felt was miscast in this film. Claudia Cardinale was a youngster in this film whose performance was magnificent an played the adopted daughter of Wayne and the love child of Rita Hayworth of another circus performer who she murdered. The brother of Richard Conte. It is quite a twisted plot. I love Lloyd Nolan in just about anything he did in film and TV. I thought John Smith was a great cast member in this film. Kudo's to his  performance. 

If anyone is familiar with Smith, he starred in the TV series in the early 60s on, 'Laramie' with Robert Fuller. It's a film about the times and trials of a circus owner who seemed to have lost it all, who again found success in Europe gathering many of the most talented performers in the genre. And I can find good in a film where there is redemption between a daughter and a mother. I thought the film was a little bit better than the critics gave it.

Circus World was a good diversion for John Wayne fans. Claudia Cardinale is always good eye candy and especially so in this movie.