Man on a Tightrope *** (1953, Fredric March, Cameron Mitchell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Grahame, Terry Moore, Richard Boone, Robert Beatty) – Classic Movie Review 12,036

Adolphe Menjou above left.

Elia Kazan’s 1953 film Man on a Tightrope stars Fredric March, Terry Moore, Gloria Grahame and Cameron Mitchell, who are first rate in this moody tale of Czech circus folk trying to make a break for the border through the Iron Curtain to the Western side.

Director Elia Kazan’s 1953 20th Century Fox black and white film Man on a Tightrope stars Fredric March, Cameron Mitchell, Adolphe Menjou, Gloria Grahame, Terry Moore, Richard Boone and Robert Beatty, who are first rate in this moody tale of Czech circus folk trying to make a break for the border through the Iron Curtain to the Western side.

Fredric March plays Karel Černík, the troubled big-top boss who cannot bear the communist government’s restrictions, his much younger wife Zama (Gloria Grahame)’s boredom and his daughter Tereza (Terry Moore)’s rebellious streak.

A thoroughly effective and intelligent adventure film is disappointing only when director Kazan sacrifices suspense and drama for messages, but otherwise it is taut, tense and telling.

The incisive Bavarian all-location shooting is a big asset and so are Robert E Sherwood’s thoughtful script (based on a 1952 novel by Neil Paterson) and especially March’s commanding star portrayal.

Also in the cast are Alex D’Arcy, Hansi, Pat Henning, Paul Hartman, John Dehner, Dorothy Wieck and Edelweiss Malchin.

In April 1952, the House Committee on Un-American Activities called on Kazan, under oath, to identify Communists from 1934 to 1936 when he had been a member of the American Communist Party in New York. Kazan eventually named eight former Group Theatre members who he said had been Communists: Clifford Odets, J Edward Bromberg, Lewis Leverett, Morris Carnovsky, Phoebe Brand, Tony Kraber, Ted Wellman, and Paula Miller.

Real circus acts are used, and it employs the entire Circus Brumbach, on whose real-life escape bit by bit across the border from East Germany the story is based. Neil Paterson based his story that first appeared as the magazine novelette International Incident on the escape of the Circus Brumbach from East Germany in 1950. The members of the Circus Brumbach appear in the film both in character roles and as extras.

Man on a Tightrope was released on June 4, 1953 and runs 105 minutes.

The main cast are Fredric March as Karel Černík, Terry Moore as Tereza Černík, Gloria Grahame as Zama Černík, Cameron Mitchell as Joe Vosdek, Adolphe Menjou as Fesker, Robert Beatty as Barović, Alexander D’Arcy as Rudolph, Richard Boone as Krofta, Pat Henning as Konradin, Paul Hartman as Jaromír, John Dehner as the SNB chief, Dorothy Wieck, and Edelweiss Malchin.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,036

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