The Greatest Show on Earth 1952

Kate Cameron, New York Daily News: The great showman of the movies has packed everything into this one picture. It has comedy, drama, thrills, melodrama, tragedy and great heart appeal. Read more

Pat Graham, Chicago Reader: It won best-picture Oscar for 1952, but God (De Mille's favorite walk-on, strangely absent here) only knows why. Read more

Bosley Crowther, New York Times: Two American institutions have combined to put out a piece of entertainment that will delight movie audiences for years. Read more

TIME Magazine: The movie's plot does not quite hold all this pageantry together, but De Mille's scripters and actors enter into the thing in the proper flamboyant spirit. Read more

Paul Taylor, Time Out: Characteristically elephantine Big Top epic from DeMille, thumped across with a winning brashness and garnering the veteran showman his first Best Picture Oscar. Read more

Herb Golden, Variety: This is the circus with more entertainment, more thrills, more spangles and as much Big Top atmosphere as RB-B&B itself can offer. It's a smash certainty for high-wire grosses. Read more