Carnival Story (1954) is a mostly forgotten film that is worth a screening if you go for the 1950s films that look 1950s in every way with an overly simplified story, bad acting, and less than perfect filming. My only reason for watching this film was because I am a fan of Anne Baxter’s films and wanted to see her in something she is not all that famous for.

PLOT

Set in modern (1954) post WW2 Germany we find an American traveling circus that has crossed the Atlantic Ocean to do shows in Europe because the ticket sales and revenues created in the states were dismal. This circus is not corporate run with fancy equipment, a big budget, and major star performers. The entertainment at this carnival is on a smaller scale in that it has games you can play to win prizes, see death defying acts, and pay an extra fee to see a sideshow featuring freaks of nature and other oddities that people do not see everyday.

In this carnival we find a man by the name of Joe Hammond (Steve Cochran) who is a manager of sorts in that he sells the tickets to the side show and collects the money. During one night a pickpocket strikes Joe, takes his wallet, and buys a small snack food item at one of the concession stands in the main fairway. Joe tracks down the thief, Willie (Anne Baxter), and after an initial confrontation the two get along rather well. Willie states that she is looking for work and stole the money only so she could eat. She asks for a job and Joe gets her setup as a kitchen helper in the mess hall tent doing things such as cooking and cleaning for the carnival staff. Shortly thereafter, the character of Frank Colloni (Lyle Bettger) comes into the picture as a daredevil diver that jumps into a shallow tank of water from roughly 150 feet off of the ground. Willie takes an interest in Frank’s act and eventually ends up taking lessons on diving from Frank so she may join his act and earn more money. Once Frank and Willie start working together and doing their act Frank falls in love with Willie while Willie is still in love with Joe for an unknown reason. Despite having had seen Joe with another woman by the name of Peggy there is this “can’t help but love” force that draws Willie to Joe. Despite this problem Willie accepts Frank’s marriage proposal and life goes on until tragedy strikes and Willie ends up alone again. I will not say any more about the plot but suffice it to say that there is plenty of story left at the point where I leave it.

CHARACTERS

Joe Hammond (Steve Cochran) is a rather complex character because you think of him as a good guy well into the film because he offers a thief a job and all the time is initially a gentleman in everyway. Joe’s behavior is rather inconsistent with his appearance as a stocky and rough around the edges fellow. He very much resembles how Raymond Burr looked in a film Anne Baxter had done just a year earlier, The Blue Gardenia (1953). As time goes by Joe shows his true colors and we find out how manipulative and calculating he is with Willie. This was the first film I have seen with Steve Cochran in it and I can say I liked how he played it. Keep in mind that it was not very easy to play the villain in 1950s vintage films where shiny kitchen appliances and smiling faces were the staple.

Willie (Anne Baxter) seems to have been a drifter of sorts because she owns only the clothes on her back and struggles to survive one day at a time. There is no clear explanation of how Willie came to be in the situation she lives but I assume it had something to do with the rebuilding of post WW2 Germany. The concept of how she unconditionally loves Joe was a rather novel one to explore in this film because back then the DSM4 (the manual of psychology/psychiatry) was a new book (1952 was the first printing) and the idea of mental conditions that drive people to irrational behavior was dismissed and largely ignored by the mainstream. Many viewers may identify with Willie in how she has this love hate relationship with Joe. Anne Baxter was in all honesty miscast for this film because she looked too attractive and polished to pass for a transient. I believe Willie is wearing bright red lip stick and other makeup when she first picks Joe’s pocket; this kind of does not make sense. Willie also fades in and out of a very phony German accent when she speaks. Anne Baxter did completely eliminate the light Lauren Bacall style of inflection and tone she had to her voice for this film. In the context that this was just a story about a carnival as the title implies she did fine. It should also be noted that Baxter shows quite a bit of skin in this film. There is scene where she removes her dress and models her slip covered body for Frank that must have been scandalous in her day.

Frank Colloni (Lyle Bettger) was the exact opposite of Joe Hammond in that the viewer of the film thinks of him as the wolf on the prowl when he makes his move for Willie. However, as things progress we do find that he is not just looking for a good time with Willie but intends to commit to her for life and share his dream of saving up enough money to move back to the United States and buy a farm. Frank also seems to suffer from the condition of unconditional love for Willie as Willie has for Joe. Frank even catches Willie making time, as they would say in those days, with Frank but manages to take his anger and wrath out on Joe and never at any level on Willie. Frank is the character in this film we most pity because he is took good to be in the entire situation. His line of work is beneath who he is as a person and his choice in Willie as his wife is seemingly great but turns out to be a rotten pick. Lyle Bettger was well cast for this film.

FILMING AND EDITING

You will either love or hate this film when it comes to how it is shot. Obviously, this was a low budget film and the proof of this is in the celluloid prints that are the final product. The resolution is grainy at times and the colors bleed to become overly rich while at times lighter colors blend together. It his definitely very period correct. Even on DVD you see flaws like scratches and lines that were in the original print. The DVD lacks any bonus material while there is also a lack of any subtitles in English or a foreign language. Audio quality is average but in context to the video quality I would say it is very good.

All the time I was watching it I thought this was most likely a drive in movie or some matinee picture geared mainly at young children and teenagers. The classic carnival music, colored string incandescent lights, the tents, the props, etc….are a wonderful thing. If you like complex CGI style visual effects and do not appreciate the more simple things that are just as or even more entertaining you will probably not like the film. As far as editing goes in the story itself I would say the film was a bit lengthy for having such a simple plot. However, it does not induce boredom at any time and more importantly things make sense as the plot unfolds.

SOCIAL STATEMENTS

There really is not much to say in this category since mention of the unconditional love and down on their luck conditions has already been made. I would suppose that the most profound statement this film makes is how one person’s misery and suffering is another person’s entertainment and leisure time activity. The workers of the carnival are not tormented individuals but they are human beings with minds that desire goals in life. Income earned in this profession does not give them the freedom to meet those goals and they just keep spinning their wheels.

On the other hand, you could say the carnival provides them employment they would not otherwise have in more mainstream industries. The film does make mention of this in the final third of the running time when a character explains to Willie how the carnival patrons do not come to see her act to watch her safely land the dive but rather want to be there when she has an accident or is possibly killed. The writers were a bit ahead of their time in identifying the sadistic nature of human beings. You should also look for a character by the name of Groppo (Ady Berber) who is a deaf mute that works in the side show as an act because of his large and muscular build. All throughout the film Groppo has an attraction to Willie and is unable to express it because he is labeled as being “stupid” by everyone around him. The end of the film was very fitting in that it made the point of how not everyone in the world is a winner and circumstances both in our control and beyond our control work to make things that way.

OVERALL

I would say this is a must see film if you enjoy films that were made in this 1950s genre where the point of the film is to introduce you to something new. Films about war, drama, horror, etc. have been historically made as long as films have been around. With this genre of film you get to learn the ins and outs of an industry and the people involved in it. There is not any profanity or major violence in the film but I would not recommend it for anyone under at least 13 because if a child was expecting to see a film about a carnival he/she would be great disappointed. I highly doubt Anne Baxter did her own stunts in this movie but she did manage to look spectacular in all of the different costumes.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older