Wonderful character development!

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

No doubt the great success of The Greatest Show On Earth inspired somebody at RKO to put this together. If they had done it as originally planned in 3-D it might have sold some tickets. But in just ordinary technicolor, it's just a very trashy story with Anne Baxter trying in her blond wig and most unconvincing German accent when she bothers with it to be Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren or any of the rest of those busty blond sex objects of the 50s.Jay C. Flippen has brought his show to Germany for a fresh start and Steve Cochran is his sideshow barker. Cochran takes a look at Anne after she tries to steal his wallet and convinces Flippen to take her on to help him learn German, the better for his spiels in Germany.Lyle Bettger who does a high diving act takes Anne on as a partner and teaches her the act. That's the start of a rivalry between two of the biggest screen villains of the 50s for Baxter. Bettger marries her, but she can't resist Cochran when he wants a booty call.Great actress that she was Anne Baxter just does not convince in this one. George Nader is kind of shoehorned into the film to give her a third and decent love interest. But in the end he's not Anne's savior. You won't believe who is. This film might have been in the planning stage when Howard Hughes owned RKO. I can see Hughes saying he could do a better circus film than Cecil B. DeMille. But he sold RKO and we get this.This is one trashy movie, but there are those of us out there who love trashy movies.

Kurt Neumann directs Carnival Story, starring Anne Baxter, Steve Cochran, Lyle Bettger, George Nader and Jay C. Flippen. Music is by Willy Schmidt-Gentner and cinematography by Ernest Haller.Set in Munich, Germany, plot centres on the workings of Grayson's travelling carnival. The perils of love, infatuation and high diving acts come crashing together.Filmed in Agfacolor/Technicolor and unfurling its narrative in a carnival atmosphere, Carnival Story is pleasing enough on the eyes and ears. That is once you get used to Baxter's German accent that is! Willi (Baxter) is the fulcrum for everything that happens, caught picking the pocket of carnival worker Joe Hammond (Cochran), she ends up getting employed by the owner Charley Grayson (Flippen). From there she starts to literally rise up the ladder of success whilst indulging in a torrid love triangle with Joe and Frank Collini (Bettger).The temperature never gets above lukewarm settings, the narrative getting bogged down by a repetitiveness that grates entering the last third of film. There's much swooning and sexual discord, but it never steams the screen up, this in spite of Cochran's animal magnetism and Baxter's natural sexuality. While Flippen is under used and Bettger unsuited to the role of a swim trunk wearing high diver. It's all a bit flat in story telling terms, even the ending fails to close pic down with thrilling wonder. A missed opportunity here, but fans of Cochran doing bad boy are well served, as are those of us who have lusty lustations for Annie Baxter. 5/10

Made a couple of years after Cecil B. Demille's circus tribute movie almost epic "Greatest Show on Earth," this movie is a wayward daughter of that film. The great circus acts are pretty well limited to a single high diving act. It is set in Germany because a carnival can't make any money any more in the United States. The television series, "Flash Gordon" was also made in Germany in 1954, so I guess, producers heard they could get a lot for their production buck in Germany at that time.The movie works better than it should. Being filmed in Germany, it allows Ann Baxter to show a bit more sexuality than she could have gotten away with in Hollywood under the moral code at that time. She shows a lot of leg and showers while taking a shower.She really turns in a strong performance. The script is cliché ridden and the lines are as deep as a pulp detective novel, but she managers to really make us believe her when she strips to her underwear and tells a man that she's not afraid of anything. This is about as far from "All About Eve" or "Magnificent Ambersons" material, but she carries it off somehow, and keeps your eyes glued to the screen.Altogether, the script is mediocre melodrama, but good direction and good acting keep it on track and make it fun. While it never reaches the grandeur of "Greatest Show on Earth" it doesn't have the dull stretches that GSOE has either.

A young girl (Anne Baxter) runs away and joins a traveling carnival troupe in Colonia (Germany), an American-owned circus in all its beautiful and sadness in the setting . She falls in love with her employer (Steve Cochran) and is hired by the ringmaster (J.C. Flippen). Later on , she is contracted by a somersault artist (Lyle Bettger), who teaches her the leap routine and soon becomes the main attraction but he has a fatal accident . Anne Baxter as an aerial acrobat dropping to swimming pool is interested in both men.The film is a melodramatic and romantic tale with the classic triangular love story through an European tour and meshing drama with events offstage . It deals with an U.S. carnival in Colonia sets the scene for sin , sex , passion and melodrama . The movie is wrought with romance and glamour but is a simple and tragic story about a scheming young girl and the men of whom she takes advantage . This dramatic flick packs an exciting final adding the beauty-beast myth . Extraordinary cast and good performances , especially from Anne Baxter and George Nader as a journalist , both of whom are top-notch under Kurt Neumann's correct direction . Furthermore , some scenes the actors perform their own stunts . After that , George Nader stayed in Germany where had success playing Jerry Cotton , a solid entry in German crime series . Fine camera work with exquisite images in Agfacolor and superb European location by cameraman Ernest Haller . The motion picture was well directed by Kurt Neumann , known director of classic Sci-Fi (The fly , Rocketship X-M , Kronos) , besides he realized at the same time the German version titled ¨Circus of love¨ with Curt Jurgens and Eva Bartok in similar roles .