Burt Lancaster started his career as a circus acrobat, and in "Trapeze" he gets to play a circus acrobat. This was one of a number of circus- themed films released in the fifties and sixties; others include "The Greatest Show on Earth", "The Big Circus" and "The Magnificent Showman". Lancaster plays Mike Ribble, a former "flyer". This does not mean he is a retired pilot; "flyer" is the name by which trapeze artistes refer to themselves. In his youth Ribble, only the sixth man to have performed the triple somersault, was a major star, but retired after being injured in an accident and now works as a rigger at a circus in Paris.
Ribble is tracked down by Tino Orsini, an ambitious, up-and-coming young flyer who believes that he can become the seventh man to achieve the triple and asks Ribble to train him. Ribble, impressed by the young man's potential, agrees, and the two men form an act together, with Ribble acting as Orsini's catcher. Trouble arises, however, when the circus owner wants to add a third member, a young woman named Lola, to their act. Lola is less skilled as a trapeze artiste than either Ribble or Orsini, but she looks good in a skimpy costume so the owner thinks she will be good box-office. When both men fall in love with Lola the resulting tensions threaten to destroy both their act and their friendship.
The film did well at the box office, but was not always popular with the critics; Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, for example, called the story "dismally obvious and monotonous" and said that Gina Lollobrigida as Lola "had only her looks to show". There is perhaps some justice in these criticisms. The love-triangle plot is trite and clichéd, and although that circus manager was undoubtedly right that Lollobrigida does indeed look stunning, she is all too obviously struggling with the difficulties of acting in a language not her own. (This was her first American film).
In other respects, however, the film is a lot better than Crowther thought it was. Carol Reed is perhaps best remembered today for serious black-and-white dramas, especially films noirs like "The Third Man" and "The Man Between", but he shows there that he was also capable of handling more spectacular, crowd-pleasing entertainment. This is not Burt Lancaster's greatest film, but he gives a very competent performance and even performed some of his own stunts. (The studio, however, insisted on a stunt man for the more dangerous ones). There is a good contrast between the ageing Ribble and Tony Curtis's brash newcomer Orsini. The aerial action sequences remain thrilling nearly sixty years after they were filmed. The circus genre may have declined in popularity in recent decades, but "Trapeze" shows well why such films were popular in their heyday. 7/10
Ribble is tracked down by Tino Orsini, an ambitious, up-and-coming young flyer who believes that he can become the seventh man to achieve the triple and asks Ribble to train him. Ribble, impressed by the young man's potential, agrees, and the two men form an act together, with Ribble acting as Orsini's catcher. Trouble arises, however, when the circus owner wants to add a third member, a young woman named Lola, to their act. Lola is less skilled as a trapeze artiste than either Ribble or Orsini, but she looks good in a skimpy costume so the owner thinks she will be good box-office. When both men fall in love with Lola the resulting tensions threaten to destroy both their act and their friendship.
The film did well at the box office, but was not always popular with the critics; Bosley Crowther of the New York Times, for example, called the story "dismally obvious and monotonous" and said that Gina Lollobrigida as Lola "had only her looks to show". There is perhaps some justice in these criticisms. The love-triangle plot is trite and clichéd, and although that circus manager was undoubtedly right that Lollobrigida does indeed look stunning, she is all too obviously struggling with the difficulties of acting in a language not her own. (This was her first American film).
In other respects, however, the film is a lot better than Crowther thought it was. Carol Reed is perhaps best remembered today for serious black-and-white dramas, especially films noirs like "The Third Man" and "The Man Between", but he shows there that he was also capable of handling more spectacular, crowd-pleasing entertainment. This is not Burt Lancaster's greatest film, but he gives a very competent performance and even performed some of his own stunts. (The studio, however, insisted on a stunt man for the more dangerous ones). There is a good contrast between the ageing Ribble and Tony Curtis's brash newcomer Orsini. The aerial action sequences remain thrilling nearly sixty years after they were filmed. The circus genre may have declined in popularity in recent decades, but "Trapeze" shows well why such films were popular in their heyday. 7/10