blue-7 Originally I saw this film in a theatre in 1953 and remembered enjoying it but not being overly impressed with it. I discovered that Fox Connect was offering two KAZAN AT FOX sets, each with four Elia Kazan films in Blu-ray. Volume Two has in addition to Man on a Tightrope, Viva Zapata!, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Wild River. The price is $44.98 or $11.25 per title. I ordered the set mainly because I have wanted a better copy of TREE for many years and was very pleased re-seeing Man on a Tightrope again. Very well directed with a screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood (The Best Years of Our Lives) with location shooting that adds great atmosphere to the story. Not only is Fredric March outstanding but so is just about everyone else in the film. I found that I liked the film a great deal more then I thought I would. If you are interested in any of the listed films then this set is for you. It is offered only through Fox Connect. It is titled: KAZAN AT FOX, VOL. 2. They also offer a Volume 1 that includes Blu-ray copies of GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT, PANIC IN THE STREET, PINKY and BOOMRANG! I might add that the transfers of the four films in Volume 2 were beautiful!

JackCrabbe This is a really fine movie, with some marvelous subtlety and powerful metaphor, despite the fact it shows its age. Great editing, good script, some superb scenes. I can't understand why it is not more widely known and appreciated. The Cold War is simply the setting; the unprepossessing story means far more.For those who might be interested, this was the favorite movie of American poet Richard Hugo (1923-1982), who wrote several pages about it in his posthumously published 1986 autobiography, The Real West Marginal Way. A couple of Hugo's comments:"The border becomes a kind of symbolic line separating the will from the imagination, the world of serious organizational adult responsibility from the paradise of childhood play.""More than anything else, the music {of the amateurish circus musicians} attests to the poor odds facing not only the tacky circus but humanity itself."

blanche-2 Fredric March is a "Man on a Tightrope" in this 1953 film also starring Terry Moore, Gloria Grahame, Adolphe Menjou, Richard Boone and Cameron Mitchell, Directed by Elia Kazan, this black and white film is about circus performers who and a daring plan to escape to Germany from Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia. The manager of the circus, Karel Czernik (Fredric March) is a seemingly weak man - in fact, his second wife (Grahame) detests him for it. When he's called before Communist authorities for one or another infraction committed by the circus, he's deferential and nervous. Behind all this, he has been planning the escape of the entire circus from Czechoslovakia for three years. Only a few people know - but when the Commmunists ask about a radio owned by Czernik, he realizes one of his friends is probably a traitor, though he can't accept it. He also has trouble accepting his daughter's (Terry Moore) taste in men (Cameron Mitchell).I visited Czechoslovakia eight years ago. The thought of that beautiful country and those charming, stunning people having to live for so long under Communist rule is a heartbreaking thought. This film really brought it home.One thing immediately noticeable about "Man on a Tightrope" is the circus and the depressing Eastern Europe atmosphere, heightened by the black and white photography and the broken-down circus. Then there is the look of the people in the circus - these aren't actor's faces, these are the faces of real people. Kazan used a real-life circus, the Brumbach Circus, for background and performances. You can almost feel the dust and the oppression of working under Communist rule.Fredric March gives a wonderful performance as Karel, a true actor who appears to bow to the Communists and yet is no weakling. His love for both his wife and daughter is apparent, as is his determination to get out of the country and concern for the performers. Gloria Grahame is sexy and flirty as his wife, who has her eye on the lion tamer, until she realizes the stuff her husband is made of. Moore and Mitchell are convincing lovers. Adolphe Menjou, as a Communist official, is very good as the only one who pierces the act that March is putting on. Smart men bear watching, and so do nice men. Cernik is both.Apparently due to the political climate at the time, this film wasn't widely shown or publicized. I caught it on Fox Movie Channel - hopefully FMC will be on more basic cable in the country, and also hopefully Fox will bring this film out on DVD. It deserves to be seen.

the_old_roman This is an interesting movie about the members of a circus troupe trying to flee Communist domination while battling amongst themselves. Adolphe Menjou is spectacular as a down-on-his-luck government functionary. Gloria Grahame is chilling in her scenes. Richard Boone and Cameron Mitchell lend professional support.