Carnival Story
Brief Synopsis
A trapeze act is torn apart by jealousy when the partners take in a starving girl.
Cast & Crew
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Kurt Neumann
Director
Anne Baxter
Willi Collini
Steve Cochran
Joe Mallon
Lyle Bettger
Frank Collini
George Nader
Bill Vines
Jay C. Flippen
Charley Grayson
Film Details
Also Known As
Backfire, Carnival, Circus of Love, Rummelplatz der Liebe
Genre
Drama
Romance
Release Date
Apr
16,
1954
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
King Bros. Productions, Inc.; Westra Film
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
Germany and United States
Location
Munich, Germany; Geiselgasteig,Germany; Munich,Germany
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 35m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.66 : 1
Film Length
8,529ft
(10 reels)
Synopsis
As soon as Charley Grayson's financially troubled American carnival arrives in Munich, Germany, Willi, an impoverished local woman, picks the pocket of advance man and spieler Joe Mallon and buys some food. Joe quickly realizes what Willi has done and confronts her. As Joe grabs his wallet from her, Willi bites his hand, impressing him with her spunk. Joe then convinces Charley to hire the English speaking Willi as a kitchen helper and interpreter. When Willi bemoans her ragged dress and filthy skin, Joe finds her some clean clothes and takes her to the shower area. After her shower, Joe tries to kiss her, but she pulls away. Joe persists, however, and Willi soon gives in to his ardor. Later, Frank Collini, the carnival's high-dive attraction, spots Willi and offers to pay her extra to bring coffee to his tent after his performances. Willi accepts, then watches in amazement as Frank climbs a 150-foot ladder and dives into a flaming tank of water. When she later delivers his coffee, he suggests that she train to become his diving partner. Unsure, Willi asks Joe about Frank's idea, and he happily endorses it. Willi begins her training, while continuing to help in the kitchen. One night, after most of the carnival is asleep, Joe whistles for Willi, who goes to him but complains about being treated like a dog. When Willi, who has had a difficult time with men, demands to be treated decently, Joe balks and seduces her again. Under Frank's patient tutelage, Willi's training goes well, and she soon is ready to perform. While they stand on the platform together before her first professional dive, Frank asks Willi to marry him. Willi declines to answer and completes her dive, then finds Joe and tells him about Frank's proposal. Although she insists that she does not return Frank's love, Joe, who has also seduced Peggy, another performer, encourages her to marry the financially secure diver, noting that she can always find love in Joe's arms. Willi is disgusted by Joe's attitude and rushes to Frank. Willi and Frank marry and their act, now called the Great Collinis, becomes the hit of the carnival. Aware of their success, Joe corners Willi one day and, after declaring that he made a mistake letting her marry Frank, demands that she lend him $200. Afraid of her lingering feelings for Joe, Willi stalls and promises to bring him the money that night. Willi is distracted during her afternoon performance, and that night, sneaks out to see Joe and admits she does not have the money. After confessing that she is still in love with him, Willi kisses Joe, who tells her to get some money and run away with him. Before she can leave, Frank catches them together and fights with Joe, eventually knocking him out. Enraged, Frank then informs Willi that they are quitting the carnival and moving to a farm in the United States. Willi angrily protests Frank's decision, but he orders her to bed. The next morning, Willi and Frank apologize to each other and vow to repair their marriage. Later, after Frank's former Army buddy, photographer Bill Vines, snaps their picture for a Life magazine spread, Frank and Willi start to ascend the ladder for a dive. Two-thirds of the way up, a rung breaks and Frank falls to his death. Although Frank's death is ruled an accident, Willi feels guilty and tells Charley she does not want the $5,000 that Frank left her. Bill befriends Willi, but when Willi discovers Joe in her tent one night, she still cannot resist him and spends the night with him. The next morning, however, Willi wakes to find her tent ransacked and the $5,000 gone. Embittered by Joe's betrayal, Willi demands a large pay raise from Charley and announces she is undertaking Frank's most difficult dive. Never having practiced the dive, Willi overextends and breaks her back when she hits the water. With Bill by her side, Willi slowly recuperates at a hospital. Just before her release, Bill starts to propose, but she stops him, claiming not to know what love is. When Charley calls to inform her that the carnival is moving to Frankfurt, however, Willi anxiously asks about Joe and races back to resume her career. Willi assures Joe that she has forgiven him, then as Bill watches with the crowd, dives without fear. Later, in her tent, Joe tells Willi that the two of them are going to make lots of money together and kisses her. When Willi finally is able to resist Joe's advances, calling him "garbage," he slaps her. Furious, Joe reveals that he sabotaged Frank's ladder and will implicate her in his murder if she refuses him. Joe then grabs Willi, who screams, alerting the adoring Groppo, the carnival's mute strong man. Groppo chases Joe onto the ferris wheel and eventually pushes him to his death. After the police lead Groppo away, Willi departs with the devoted Bill.
Director
Kurt Neumann
Director
Cast
Anne Baxter
Willi Collini
Steve Cochran
Joe Mallon
Lyle Bettger
Frank Collini
George Nader
Bill Vines
Jay C. Flippen
Charley Grayson
Helene Stanley
Peggy
Adi Berber
Groppo
Jacob Möslacher
Midget
Nora Kovatz
Carnival performer
Jadin Wong
Crew
Georg V. Block
Production Assistant
Walter Elliott
Sound Editing
Karlheinz Först
Production Assistant
Martin Gericke
Makeup Artist
Kurt Grigoleit
Assistant Camera
Ludolf Grisebach
Associate Editor
Ernest Haller
Director of Photography
Edward S. Haworth
Production Design
Hans Jacoby
Associate Producer
Hans Jacoby
Screenwriter
Dick Jensen
Sound Editing
Herbert Junghanns
Production Manager
Frank King
Producer
Maurice King
Producer
Marcel Klauber
Based on a Story by
Hans Kuhnert
Art Director
Werner Kurz
Assistant Camera
Ursula Maes
Wardrobe Designer
Philip Moody
Composer
Kurt Neubert
Assistant Camera
Kurt Neumann
Screenwriter
Peg O'neill
Assistant to the prod
Laci Ronay
Assistant Director
Willi Rother
Production Assistant
Walter Ruehland
Sound Engineer
Willy Schmidt-gentner
Music Composition and Conducting
Willy Schmidt-gentner
Composer
Günther Senftleben
Assistant Camera
Pony Sherrell
Composer
George Sinclair
Dial Director
Arthur Siteman
Production Manager
Sol Solomon
Tech Director
John Philip Sousa
Composer
Rudibert V. Spraeter
Assistant Camera
Gertrude V. Trotha
Set Construction
Merrill White
Supervising Editor
C. B. Williams
Based on a Story by
Theo Zwierski
Art Director
Film Details
Also Known As
Backfire, Carnival, Circus of Love, Rummelplatz der Liebe
Genre
Drama
Romance
Release Date
Apr
16,
1954
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
King Bros. Productions, Inc.; Westra Film
Distribution Company
RKO Radio Pictures, Inc.
Country
Germany and United States
Location
Munich, Germany; Geiselgasteig,Germany; Munich,Germany
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 35m
Sound
Mono (RCA Victor System)
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.66 : 1
Film Length
8,529ft
(10 reels)
Articles
Carnival Story
A trapeze act is torn apart by jealousy when the partners take in a starving girl.
Carnival Story
A trapeze act is torn apart by jealousy when the partners take in a starving girl.
Quotes
Until I met you, I never knew how rotten I was.- Willie
Trivia
Notes
The working titles of this film were Backfire and Carnival. After the title card, the opening credits are interrupted briefly by the first scene of the film. The credits then resume and are interspersed throughout the scene. As noted in news items, Carnival Story was shot at the Geiselgasteig Studios in Munich, Germany. Some scenes were filmed at the Barnhof Railroad Station and Maxburg Strasse in Munich. A German-language version of the film, entitled Rummelplatz der Liebe, was made simultaneously with the English version and released in Germany in 1954. The German version starred Curt Jürgens as "Toni," the advance man; Eva Bartok as "Lilly," the diver; Bernard Wicki as "Franz," her husband; Robert Freytag as "Richard"; and Willi Rose as "Karl." Helene Stanley, Adi Berber, Jacob Möslacher and Jadin Wong reprised their English-language roles in the German version. According to an August 1953 New York Times article, many Munich locals appear in the picture as extras. Although pre-production news items announced that the film would be shot using the Zeiss 3-D system, an Los Angeles Daily News item of July 20, 1953 reported that plan had been dropped.
According to the MPAA/PCA file on the film at the AMPAS Library, Carnival Story encountered many censorship problems during its script-writing phase. In a August 24, 1951 letter to the King Bros., PCA director Joseph I. Breen called the picture "so shockingly low-toned as to be grossly offensive." PCA memos indicate that in early drafts of the script, "Willi" (called "Vida" in the submitted draft) kills her husband after he demands that she quit the circus and live on a farm with him, then turns herself in to the police. Breen complained that the story lacked "compensating moral values," as Willi was not sufficiently punished for committing murder. In the final picture, "Joe" kills the husband and is himself killed by "Groppo." According to the PCA files, Arthur Gardner worked on the script's early drafts, but his contribution to the final film has not been determined. Despite the script changes, the Legion of Decency gave the film a "B" rating and publicly asked the producers to tone down the "offensive material." The King Bros. refused to comply, however. Some reviewers complained about the prurient nature of the story, but like the Variety reviewer, predicted that the "sizzling sex and carnival thrills" would spell box office success.
On August 15, 1958, the King Bros., through Distributors Corp. of America, opened the German-language version of Carnival Story in New York. The film, titled Circus of Love (see below), was presented in the original German, with English subtitles, and was earmarked for art houses across America, according to an August 1958 Daily Variety news item. The New York Times review commented that the 1958 German-language version and the 1954 English-language version were "almost identical." According to the review, Anne Baxter and Steve Cochran are seen briefly in the German version, as are Bartok and Jürgens in the English version. In 1955, Los Angeles Times reported that the King Bros. were being sued for $20,000 over the use of John Philip Sousa's march "The Stars and Stripes Forever" in the picture. The disposition of the suit is not known.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States Spring April 1954
Released in United States Spring April 1954
