In the history of bad Academy Award recipients, one that has stood out for me is "The Greatest Show on Earth" (directed by Cecil B. DeMille) winning the Best Picture award. While the film, like any other DeMille film, is BIG, the story itself (which, inexplicably won an Oscar as well) was dreadfully dull and clichéd. According to the wonderful review by bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York, "Ring of Fear" was an attempt by John Wayne's production company to cash in on the success of this 1952 film. However, while "Ring of Fear" is indeed derivative, it is, to me, a bit more entertaining than "The Greatest Show on Earth" for one major reason--the story is entertaining and gritty. Instead of a story about an innocent man hiding from the law dressed up as a clown (Jimmy Stewart), "Ring of Fear" has an escaped murderous schizophrenic hiding within the circus---and killing! Now THAT is gritty and doesn't rely one bit on the pathos of the DeMille film...thank goodness. Now this isn't saying that I loved "Ring of Fear'--just that it was fun to watch.
While I usually hate circus films, I decided to watch this film because of its very unusual job of casting. Clyde Beatty (practically an unknown man today--but quite famous in the 1940s and 50s) is a start in the film and was a rival to the Ringling Brothers circus and made his fame as a lion tamer. Additionally, Mickey Spillane (yes, THE Mickey Spillane) is on hand to play himself just like Beatty did--though why a guy who wrote the Mike Hammer books is in the film is anyone's guess. He certainly wasn't trained to investigate crimes, so he does what any writer in this situation would do--hire a professional to do this! In addition to these two, the film also stars Pat O'Brien who'd been through some pretty lean years following WWII--with fewer and fewer chances to act. While O'Brien was never a very subtle actor, he was enjoyable and lent some class to the film. While "The Greatest Show on Earth" sported more big-name actors like Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton and Cornell Wilde, it featured lots of actors--not the real life acts like you see in this film--another plus in "Ring of Fear".
Overall, while this film is not a great film, the murderer is cool to watch (this psycho has style!) and the film never reaches the heights of extreme boredom I felt in the DeMille epic. It's worth seeing, but for my money if you must see a film about circuses, try Chaplin's "The Circus" first!
While I usually hate circus films, I decided to watch this film because of its very unusual job of casting. Clyde Beatty (practically an unknown man today--but quite famous in the 1940s and 50s) is a start in the film and was a rival to the Ringling Brothers circus and made his fame as a lion tamer. Additionally, Mickey Spillane (yes, THE Mickey Spillane) is on hand to play himself just like Beatty did--though why a guy who wrote the Mike Hammer books is in the film is anyone's guess. He certainly wasn't trained to investigate crimes, so he does what any writer in this situation would do--hire a professional to do this! In addition to these two, the film also stars Pat O'Brien who'd been through some pretty lean years following WWII--with fewer and fewer chances to act. While O'Brien was never a very subtle actor, he was enjoyable and lent some class to the film. While "The Greatest Show on Earth" sported more big-name actors like Jimmy Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton and Cornell Wilde, it featured lots of actors--not the real life acts like you see in this film--another plus in "Ring of Fear".
Overall, while this film is not a great film, the murderer is cool to watch (this psycho has style!) and the film never reaches the heights of extreme boredom I felt in the DeMille epic. It's worth seeing, but for my money if you must see a film about circuses, try Chaplin's "The Circus" first!