Netflix: Greatest Show On Earth (1952)

Sometimes the great thing about old movies is not the well-developed storylines or the superior acting or the attention to detail. All these things are true, but often the best part about watching an old movie is the wicked-sweet special effects. I know what you're thinking, "But Roger, special effects are nowhere near as good in olden times as they are now." Well, you're right. For the most part, special effects now, used properly and in moderation, can be stunning. We are rapidly approaching the day when CGI will be indistinguishable from live-action footage.

Fifty years ago it was a different story. Miniatures ruled the day. And boy do we have some miniatures from this movie, The Greatest Show On Earth.

There's a huge circus train wreck. The guy in this car is trying to stop a train from running into another train further down the track.

Here he is, apparently waving to the crowd:


In the left frame, looks like he's in trouble. In the right frame, talk about thighs of steel, he's STILL sitting in the car! Maybe it's Jack La Lanne:


And finally, the train wreck in progress. As you'll notice by the bottom-right photo, no animals were harmed in the filming of this toy train wreck.


For my last Netflix post on Wimbledon, I borrowed the Netflix, 5 star rating system. Well, in Netflix, you're only able to specify whole stars and you can't give a movie a zero star rating. This is too limiting. So, I've devised the Star Search Movie Rating System, featuring Ed McMahon's White Thumb of Critical Justice.

Ed, the results please . . .