Showbiz And The Big Screen

March 4, 2015 By Editor

Hollywood And The Midway

Movies Come To The Tented World

If you’re like me, you love old films that have anything to do with ‘The Biz’.

Victor Mature is great in the 1959 classic: The Big Circus which is an example of a little known Hollywood gem. Elvis Presley in Roustabout features colorful scenes from the ‘Crafts 20 Big Shows’ and Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine were spectacular in the 1958 classic film noir: Some Came Running, which showcased midway action on the ‘Great Sutton Shows’. Trapeze, filmed in 1956 with the incredible Burt Lancaster,( doing all his own trapeze work in the film) Tony Curtis and the beautiful Gina Lollobrigida is a must see.

There are several of these great old films that, if you have never seen them, you should put on your rainy day “Bucket List”

One such film that comes to mind is an old chestnut with the unlikely title of “She Freak”.It wouldn’t be worth watching at all except for the many colorful scenes of the old ‘West Coast Shows’ midway which I happened to be on at the time it was being filmed (You can see it in its 1 hr 23 minute entirety on You tube). I love seeing some of my old friends, who had non speaking bit parts and who have now drifted away over the decades for one reason or another but stay forever young in this old film.

One that I can’t seem to find and I have not had the opportunity to see is the 1946 comedy “Singin In The Corn” with the talented Judy Canova in her prime. Unfortunately many of these so called “B” grade black and white movies never made it on to video tape or DVD format and are lost or unattainable. Heres a great promo still for that movie.

International Independent Showmens Museum

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International Independent Showmens Museum

The Cardiff Giant is one of the most famous hoaxes in American history. It was a 10-foot-tall purported "petrified man", uncovered on October 16 1869 by workers digging a well behind the barn of William C. "Stub" Newell, in Cardiff, New York. The giant was the creation of a New York tobacconist named George Hull. He was an ardent believer in science, especially in the theory of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin. Hull, an atheist, got into an argument with a fundamentalist minister named Reverend Turk and his supporters at a Methodist revival meeting about a Bible passage (Genesis 6:4) which states that there were giants who once lived on Earth. Hull lost the argument to the fervent congregation and was quite miffed. Hull decided he wanted to prove how easily he could fool people with a fake giant so in 1868, Hull, accompanied by a man named H.B. Martin, hired men to quarry out a 10-foot-4.5-inch-long block of gypsum in Fort Dodge, Iowa, telling them it was intended for a monument to Abraham Lincoln in New York. He shipped the block to Edward Burghardt in Chicago, a German stonecutter he had sworn to secrecy. Burghardt hired two sculptors, Henry Salle and Fred Mohrmann, to create the giant. They had taken cautious steps to cover up their work during the carving, putting up quilts to lessen the sound of carving. For the giant to look ancient, various stains and acids were used to make the giant appear to be old and weathered, then buried the "Gaff" behind the barn and waited until he thought the time was right to unveil it. It initially caused a lot of speculation both pro and con and opinions abounded as to its validity by "experts" and it even resulted in a court ruling.On December 10, 1869, Hull confessed everything to the press.The Cardiff Giant was displayed at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition but did not attract much attention.Iowa publisher Gardner Cowles, Jr. bought it later to adorn his basement rumpus room as a coffee table and conversation piece. In 1947 he sold it to the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown, New York, where it's still displayed. These Cardiff Giant "gaffs" were extensively used on carnival midways as stand-alone side shows from the early 1900s, right through the latter part of the 20th century. Incidentally, we have a pretty good "Cardiff Giant" of our own going under another name that's displayed here at the sideshow exhibit at the Showmen's Museum. ... See MoreSee Less

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Showbiz And The Big Screen

Hollywood And The Midway

Movies Come To The Tented World

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