1952 ::The Greatest Show on Earth:: C-

     Best Picture winner for 1952 was The Greatest Show on Earth. As you can probably tell, it is a drama into the lives of a few of the trapeze artists, dancers, clowns, and managers of the circus. Aaaaand... that's about it. There was no real plot to the story which left you halfway through the movie wondering when anything substantial was going to happen. It stars Charlton Heston (the man right there in front) who is also known for playing the title role in another Best Picture from 1959, Ben-Hur. He plays Brad, the manager of the show who puts the show above the feelings of his performers. Betty Hutton is the main character, Holly, (left in pink) the best trapeze artist in the show who gets moved out of center ring when Sebastian, a celebrity trapeze artist comes in. Other notable mentions: James Stewart plays Buttons, the clown and Gloria Grahame plays Angel, the elephant rider. Who is Gloria Grahame, you might ask? She played the famous role of Violet in It's a Wonderful Life a few years earlier. Also, it was directed by Cecil B DeMille, a famous director.

     Now to the good part: the judgment.... I grade this movie at a C-. 

     Positives:  First off, James Stewart, I just adore him....... The picture was in color and had so many wonderful and extravagant costumes which were really entertaining. I always love the circus and seeing  all the trapeze artists and dancers, etc. and they had really  great stunts. And, as a side note, Charlton Heston is easy on the eyes =)

     Negatives:   There was no plot at all which made it hard to pay attention and engage. Besides that, it was super long which made it even harder not to get bored. The acting by the supporting actors was wonderful, but the acting of the main characters was horrendous, with the exception of Heston. Betty Hutton was such an over actress it was hard not to hit the off button and the actor who played Sebastian made me want to gag he was so over the top on being a womanizer. 

     Overall on this movie, the bad outweighs the good so I have to give it a low score. It would have been much worse if it was not for James Stewart and it being in color. Is this a "Best Picture"? I would have to say  "No".