Trapeze is a 1956 circus film directed by Carol Reed

Carol Reed

Sir Carol Reed was an English film director best known for Odd Man Out , The Fallen Idol , The Third Man and Oliver!...

 and starring Burt Lancaster

Burt Lancaster

Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...

, Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...

 and Gina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida

Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...

, making her debut in American films.

The film did very well at the box office, making an $8 million profit and placing in the top three among the year's top earners.

Plot

Crippled trapeze

Trapeze

A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances...

 aerialist and former star Mike Ribble (Burt Lancaster) sees great promise in young, brash Tino Orsini (Tony Curtis). Ribble—only the sixth man to have completed the dangerous triple somersault—thinks his protégé is capable, under his rigorous training, of matching his feat. However, Orsini is distracted by the third member of their circus act, the manipulative

Psychological manipulation

Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...

 Lola (Gina Lollobrigida). Tensions rise as a love triangle

Love triangle

A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...

 forms.

Cast

• Burt Lancaster
  Burt Lancaster
  Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
  
   as Mike Ribble
• Tony Curtis
  Tony Curtis
  Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
  
   as Tino Orsini
• Gina Lollobrigida
  Gina Lollobrigida
  Gina Lollobrigida is an Italian actress, photojournalist and sculptress. She was one of the most popular European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was also an iconic sex symbol of the 1950s. Today, she remains an active supporter of Italian and Italian American causes, particularly the...
  
   as Lola
• Katy Jurado
  Katy Jurado
  Katy Jurado , born María Cristina Estela Marcela Jurado García in Mexico, D.F., was a Mexican actress who had a successful film career both in Mexico and in Hollywood....
  
   as Rosa
• Thomas Gomez
  Thomas Gomez
  Thomas Gomez was an American actor.Born Sabino Tomas Gomez in New York City, Gomez began his acting career in theater during the 1920s and was a student of the actor Walter Hampden...
  
   as Bouglione
• Johnny Puleo
  Johnny Puleo
  Johnny Puleo was an American musician and actor, who specialized in playing the harmonica.He performed in front of such notables as the Royal Command in England and the Presidents of the United States and France...
  
   as Max
• Minor Watson
  Minor Watson
  Minor Watson was a prominent character actor. He appeared in 111 movies made between 1913 and 1956. His credits included, Boys Town , Yankee Doodle Dandy , Kings Row , Guadalcanal Diary , Bewitched , The Virginian , and The Jackie Robinson Story .He is buried in Alton Cemetery...
  
   as John Ringling North
  John Ringling North
  John Ringling North was the owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1937 to 1943 and from 1947 to 1967. In 1967 he sold the circus to Irvin Feld.-Biography:...
  
  
• Gérard Landry as Chikki
• Jean-Pierre Kérien as Otto
• Sid James
  Sid James
  Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
  
   as Snake Charmer

Production

Lancaster, a former circus acrobat, performed many of his own stunts, though the most dangerous (including the climactic triple) were done by technical consultant Eddie Ward from Ringling Brothers Circus

Ringling Brothers Circus

The Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling Brothers: Albert , August , Otto , Alfred T. , Charles , John , and Henry...

.

Trapeze was filmed entirely in Paris, including at the Cirque d'hiver

Cirque d'hiver

The Cirque d'hiver , located at 110 rue Amelot , has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musical concerts, and other events, including exhibitions of Turkish wrestling and even fashion shows...

, and at the nearby Billancourt studios.

Awards

Burt Lancaster won the Silver Bear for Best Actor

Silver Bear for Best Actor

The Silver Bear for Best Actor is the Berlin International Film Festival's award for achievement in performance by an actor.- Awards :- External links :*...

 award at the 6th Berlin International Film Festival

6th Berlin International Film Festival

-Jury:* Marcel Carné* Bill Luckwell* Giuseppe Vittorio Sampieri* Koichi Kawakita* Leo J. Horster* Ilse Urbach* Ludwig Berger-Films in competition:* ...erwachsen sein dagegen sehr by Wolf Hart* Autumn Leaves by Robert Aldrich...

.