With the success of Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" in 1952, it was inevitable that another circus themed movie would be made. John Wayne's Batjac company did just that. They produced "Ring of Fear" in the newly introduced CimemaScope and glorious color.
The Clyde Beatty Circus is at the forefront of the film showcasing not only Beatty's prowess in the lion cage but many of the acts in his show as well. The story is about a homicidal maniac Dublin O'Malley (Sean McClory) who escapes from a mental hospital. He murders a guard and then a railway worker whose clothes he takes before pushing the man's body in front of a train with the hope that he will be identified as O'Malley thus diverting attention away from himself.
O'Malley heads for the Clyde Beatty Circus where he had been before "going away". He had been in love with aerialist Valerie St. Denis (Marian Carr) who has since married Armand St. Louis (John Bromfield) a fellow trapeze artist. O'Malley enlists the help of a drunken clown with a past, Twichy (Emmett Lynn) whom he blackmails into staging "accidents" within the circus.
Beatty brings in crime novelist Mickey Spillane to find the source of the circus' problems. He in turn brings in Jack Stang a detective posing as a magazine writer to assist him. Circus manager Frank Wallace (Pat O'Brien) keeps the show running while coordinating the detective work (and acting).
O'Malley has gotten back into the good graces of Beatty who hires him as the Ringmaster. All the while O'Malley is plotting his revenge on both Valerie and Beatty. When Twichy threatens to go to the police, O'Malley murders him. When Spillane and Wallace suspect O'Malley, the mad man is forced into the open. He unlooses a tiger and...............................................................................
The circus sequences are entertaining and Beaaty's lion taming show is quite good. As actors, Beatty makes an excellent lion tamer and Spillane a great mystery writer. Acting cudos go to the veteran O'Brien ion one of his signature wise guy roles and "B" western sidekick Lynn as the boozy Twichy. McClory is also good but tends to go over the top at times. He was, by the way, a member of Ireland's Abby players and can be seen in John Ford's "The Quiet Man". Pedro Gonzoles-Gonzolez is along for comedy relief and watch for Ken Tobey as a circus worker.
Long time John Wayne associates James Earl Grant directed and actor Paul Fix co-wrote the screenplay.
And incidently, did anyone else see the resemblance between Clyde Beatty and TV star Don Adams (Get Smart)?
The Clyde Beatty Circus is at the forefront of the film showcasing not only Beatty's prowess in the lion cage but many of the acts in his show as well. The story is about a homicidal maniac Dublin O'Malley (Sean McClory) who escapes from a mental hospital. He murders a guard and then a railway worker whose clothes he takes before pushing the man's body in front of a train with the hope that he will be identified as O'Malley thus diverting attention away from himself.
O'Malley heads for the Clyde Beatty Circus where he had been before "going away". He had been in love with aerialist Valerie St. Denis (Marian Carr) who has since married Armand St. Louis (John Bromfield) a fellow trapeze artist. O'Malley enlists the help of a drunken clown with a past, Twichy (Emmett Lynn) whom he blackmails into staging "accidents" within the circus.
Beatty brings in crime novelist Mickey Spillane to find the source of the circus' problems. He in turn brings in Jack Stang a detective posing as a magazine writer to assist him. Circus manager Frank Wallace (Pat O'Brien) keeps the show running while coordinating the detective work (and acting).
O'Malley has gotten back into the good graces of Beatty who hires him as the Ringmaster. All the while O'Malley is plotting his revenge on both Valerie and Beatty. When Twichy threatens to go to the police, O'Malley murders him. When Spillane and Wallace suspect O'Malley, the mad man is forced into the open. He unlooses a tiger and...............................................................................
The circus sequences are entertaining and Beaaty's lion taming show is quite good. As actors, Beatty makes an excellent lion tamer and Spillane a great mystery writer. Acting cudos go to the veteran O'Brien ion one of his signature wise guy roles and "B" western sidekick Lynn as the boozy Twichy. McClory is also good but tends to go over the top at times. He was, by the way, a member of Ireland's Abby players and can be seen in John Ford's "The Quiet Man". Pedro Gonzoles-Gonzolez is along for comedy relief and watch for Ken Tobey as a circus worker.
Long time John Wayne associates James Earl Grant directed and actor Paul Fix co-wrote the screenplay.
And incidently, did anyone else see the resemblance between Clyde Beatty and TV star Don Adams (Get Smart)?