In spite of the overabundance of supposed circus lion abuse, this Pine/Thomas programmer is top notch entertainment, no classic but entertaining enough and filled with some knuckle biting tension. Sheila Ryan is a rising lion tamer who finds herself in danger due to presumed elements of sabotage. There is more than one moment when she finds herself the victim of a clawing lion, but if somebody was constantly cracking a whip at you or threatening to toss a chair in your face, you wouldn't feel like purring either. It's pretty obvious from the start who the culprit is, and thanks to a miracle of ridiculous timing, their demise isn't as permanent as Ryan and lover Richard Denning believe it to be.
Getting past the intense lion taming scenes expresses relief that these type of acts are supposedly all in the past. Certainly, the Lions seem to be treated well until they are on stage, and watching one lion doing a tight rope act is very tense. Buster Crabbe gives an excellent performance as the veteran clown, rivaling James Stewart in "The Greatest Show on Earth". This film doesn't stop on thrills for a second, even concluding with an intense fire sequence and dozens of circus animals and audience members in peril. The reason for my "Simply just average" score is the one absurd twist at the end that I saw coming and just found totally silly.
Getting past the intense lion taming scenes expresses relief that these type of acts are supposedly all in the past. Certainly, the Lions seem to be treated well until they are on stage, and watching one lion doing a tight rope act is very tense. Buster Crabbe gives an excellent performance as the veteran clown, rivaling James Stewart in "The Greatest Show on Earth". This film doesn't stop on thrills for a second, even concluding with an intense fire sequence and dozens of circus animals and audience members in peril. The reason for my "Simply just average" score is the one absurd twist at the end that I saw coming and just found totally silly.