Man on a Tightrope

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nick s @Nick_S May 14, 2024 An entertaining watch with some great set pieces. Acting was excellent. It was based on a real event in East Germany, but I'm sure it was spiced up a lot with the action sequences. From a storytelling perspective I wished the characters had explained their plans a little better. See more Anthony J @jenkinsdraws Jan 3, 2024 Dated and hokey, but nonetheless entertaining despite the heavy-handed 'message' that Communism is bad and kills even the joy a circus can bring. See more huck d @HuckD Oct 23, 2021 Just off the chart. This completely unknown Elia Kazan masterpiece takes us behind the Iron Curtain when your every thought was monitored and controlled by a soulless inhuman apparatachik who demanded your obedience --- even if you were just a circus performer. Fredrick March gives a multidimensional and inspirational performance as he plays the once circus owner, before it was confiscated by the state. The state has so much fear of a good man, an honest man, that they need to control him, his thoughts, right down to his clown performance. Every second on that screen was a harrowing reminder of what life was like behind the Iron Curtain, and what could be again. Amazingly, this is filmed on location, and the actual Cernik Circus performers play their parts in the movie. Without a doubt, a must-watch for anyone who understand the value of freedom and those who love a superbly crafted story brought to life as only Elia Kazan could. See more Mar 23, 2011 Compelling screenplay, but several of the performances are stilted and stagey. See more Feb 2, 2011 Although it lacks the fire and energy of Kazan's masterpieces, Man on a Tightrope is still an expertly crafted and wholly engaging film. See more Jan 18, 2011 Fredric March leads his small circus troupe in a daring escape from Soviet occupied Czechoslovakia. Say what you want about Elia Kazan and his shameful role in Joseph McCarthy's witch-hunt, the man could direct with the best of 'em. <i>Man on a Tightrope</i> could have easily become cliché ridden propagandistic tripe but Kazan has crafted it into something of substance. ...and nobody but nobody plays an opportunistic slut like the magnificent Miss Gloria Grahame! See more Read all reviews

Man on a Tightrope

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