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CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

James Hitchcock A "carnival" in British English is a procession through the streets accompanied by singing, dancing, eating, drinking, general merrymaking and dressing up in flamboyant costumes; London's famous Notting Hill Carnival is a good example. This film, however, is about a "carnival" in the American sense, that of a travelling funfair or circus. It is unusual in that it was produced by a major American studio (RKO Radio Pictures) with American actors but made in Germany by a director (Kurt Neumann) who was also making a German language version of the same story using German actors. It was originally intended to make the film as a 3D feature, but this plan was dropped, probably when the 3D craze ended as abruptly as it had begun. The "carnival" in question is an American travelling circus, touring Europe because there is too much competition in the States, which arrives in Munich. (You can tell that it's Munich because the local cathedral features in a number of shots, although the famous domes atop its twin towers seem to have been missing in 1954; possibly they had been damaged in the war). A local girl named Willie joins the show and is offered a job as assistant to Frank Collini, the high-dive artist. Exactly how Willie got her masculine-sounding name is never precisely explained, although it is always pronounced in the English way. When someone tries to germanicise it to "Villi" she corrects him. Frank trains Willie to become part of his act, which involves diving into a flaming tank of water from a great height. (I suspect that this detail was probably inserted to allow as many shots as possible of the lovely Anne Baxter in a swimsuit). The story is a melodrama based upon a love-triangle. Frank falls deeply in love with Willie, but she only has eyes for the handsome Joe Hammond, another carnival employee, even though Frank is decent and kind-hearted whereas Joe is an arrogant swine (or, in American usage, a "heel") who treats her badly. The film explores the complications arising from this triangle, including jealousy, theft, violence and a suspicious death. There is nothing particularly distinguished about "Carnival Story". Unusually for a crime drama from the fifties it was shot in colour, but the colours are rather dull and muddy. None of the acting contributions really stand out; at her best, as in "All about Eve", Anne Baxter could be a brilliant actress, but this is not one of her better films. The plot is little more than a standard melodrama, with the circus background and the German setting adding a touch of exoticism, at least for American audiences. It was obviously made on a relatively small budget and therefore lacks the spectacle of something like "The Greatest Show on Earth", Cecil B. DeMille's circus extravaganza from two years earlier. Neumann gets enough out of his cast to make the film watchable, but is perhaps not difficult to understand why it has faded into obscurity in the sixty years since it was made. 6/10

wes-connors In Germany, beautiful homeless blonde Anne Baxter (as Willie) is taken in by scuzzy carnival worker Steve Cochran (as Joe). Ms. Baxter, with movie-star hair and make-up, is an atypical dirty waif. Mr. Cochran gets her a job serving freaky "Carnival Story" workers food and drink, after letting her wash up in his shower. "You wet all over?" Cochran asks. "All over!" Baxter replies. "I'll bet you taste clean," he says, before carrying her off screen. Conversations like this make this movie more fun that its worth.Due to the way Baxter moves in her underwear, high-diver Lyle Bettger (as Frank) invites her to join his act. Baxter becomes a carnival star with Mr. Bettger, but remains hooked on Cochran. When tall, dark and handsome photographer George Nader (as Bill) gets in the picture, Baxter may finally have more men than she can handle. Mr. Nader was a much-noticed newcomer, with 1954 "Photoplay" and "Golden Globe" awards. Watching Baxter juggle her male admirers is ludicrously silly fun from the 1950s.***** Carnival Story (4/16/54) Kurt Neumann ~ Anne Baxter, Steve Cochran, Lyle Bettger, George Nader

l-loch A waste of time. The characters are all so unlikeable you really don't care if the writer kills them all off. Which is what he should have done. I was surprised that so many usually very talented actors were just plain awful. It was like they were just reading a script. No feeling... Just walking through it. Ms. Baxter, at times had an accent and at times did not have an accent. She was doing so much overacting as were the others that at times it had a comic effect. I am sure that this is not what the writer of this script had in mine. Don't bother or waste your time watching. I sat through the whole thing thinking it would get better...it didn't. Then the end was anti-climatic and really answered no questions at all. Read a good book instead

dickson9 I could not help but compare this film to her earlier work "All About Eve", not because it was similar but because it was the first film I had seen her in since viewing "AAE".I was looking for the same great performances from her, and on occasions I was satisfied, yet the rest of the cast WAS NOT on the same page as her! She out-shined them all, which I admit was not that hard to do in this lack luster, poor, foreign film about United States Carnivals...and of course the typical stereo typing of the so called freaks prevailed...Still, I read another viewers comments on the film and I have to agree, it was rather odd of Anne's character, who was in fact, a Black Widow if you looked close enough...See it for Anne and Steve Cochran if not for the exploitation of Carnies....