"I don't know what to say" says the orphaned Benita Hume when her guardian, lion tamer Gregory Ratoff, proposes to her. How about no?, because it's obvious when she exchanges vows with him, that she doesn't want to do it. "I feel much more at home with my whip in my hand", Ratoff says at the reception, giving an indication of what this marriage is going to be like. He's obviously jealous of the younger John Loder who makes an unwelcome entrance to the reception, and the marriage is obviously off to a rocky start.
We've seen this plotline several times, mainly a series of films at Warner Brothers related through the original story ("Tiger Shark", "Manpower"), and indeed, veteran character actor Ratoff does seem to be emulating various older leading men of the time such as the star of those movies, Edward G. Robinson and MGM's Wallace Beery. Ratoff is certainly no young ladies' romantic dream, filled with humor when happy and getting his way, but potentially deadly when crossed.
A lavish look into the Russian national circus, this was better than I thought with its very grand scale coming off of a B movie budget. Ratoff is the whole show, stealing the scene from the younger romantic leads with veteran character actor Richard Bennett (father of Constance and Joan) excellent as Ratoff's friend, the only person unafraid to tell him the truth, not only about his wife but about himself as well. Very good if you go in expecting a melodramatic tragedy where nobody will end up happy, at least until the obvious conclusion.
We've seen this plotline several times, mainly a series of films at Warner Brothers related through the original story ("Tiger Shark", "Manpower"), and indeed, veteran character actor Ratoff does seem to be emulating various older leading men of the time such as the star of those movies, Edward G. Robinson and MGM's Wallace Beery. Ratoff is certainly no young ladies' romantic dream, filled with humor when happy and getting his way, but potentially deadly when crossed.
A lavish look into the Russian national circus, this was better than I thought with its very grand scale coming off of a B movie budget. Ratoff is the whole show, stealing the scene from the younger romantic leads with veteran character actor Richard Bennett (father of Constance and Joan) excellent as Ratoff's friend, the only person unafraid to tell him the truth, not only about his wife but about himself as well. Very good if you go in expecting a melodramatic tragedy where nobody will end up happy, at least until the obvious conclusion.