Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

mark.waltz New York police commissioner Adolph Menjou heads out of town for a rest, and gets involved in the goings on behind a traveling circus. Spooky Dwight Frye (of "Dracula" fame) is the demented husband of carnival circus queen Greta Nissen, and is so insanely jealous of her and her obvious lover (Donald Cook) that he sets up a devious plan to knock all of them off (including himself!). Menjou and his pretty assistant Ruthelma Stevens must prevent Frye from going through with his evil plot, which includes cannibals, a chirping gorilla and Nissen's beloved dog. This is not really a mystery, since it is obvious from the start who the villain is, but simply a decent thriller of how Menjou deduces how to stop the killer from striking again. It is excellently photographed and moves along quickly enough to make it better than it could have been. Columbia pictures at this time was only noted for Frank Capra's "A" budget films, but occasionally, a nice surprise like this one comes along. Fortunately, some of them are cropping up at film festivals or revival houses (like New York's Film Forum or L.A.'s Nuart), and now on TCM. Menjou and Frye get the acting honors here, and Nissen's character is slightly reminiscent of Olga Baclanova's character in the earlier "Freaks". In fact, there are a few interesting similarities between this film and "Freaks", although there are none of the supposedly "grotestque" characters here that "Freaks" stunned 1932 film-goers with. Frye, of course, does menacing very well, and even as a cop, Menjou is still the elegant man about town. Keep an eye on the gorilla that Menjou observes screeching at him. It appears to be a plot development that somehow was deleted before the final print that made me think that one of the characters was somehow stuffed into a gorilla suit and was screaming "help me!" to get Menjou's attention.

samhill5215 Now here's a fun thriller with something for everyone. Adolphe Menjou plays the alpha male, a DA on vacation who is engulfed in the intrigue of a circus and gets to order everyone around and appear invulnerable. With a name like Colt what else could one expect. His assistant played by Ruthelma Stevens is sharp as a tack and every bit as resourceful. A real take charge lady unafraid to take chances. Then there's Harry Holman and his fat man act, wiping his brow and nervous as a cat in a roomful of rocking chairs, as the circus' publicity agent. Dwight Frye is perfect as the spurned lover with another great performance two years after his Renfield in Dracula. And last but not least we have the pretty people, handsome Donald Cook and the delectable Greta Nissen, the acrobats and pivot of the film. Stock characters one might say but in this film they add up to a fun thriller. And let's not forget a hint of horror with the suggestion a disappeared body may have been eaten by lions or cannibals. How gruesome! It's snappy, it moves right along, and it'll keep you watching even though you might have guessed the outcome. My only criticism has to do with the utter disregard for the fate of the circus queen who is about to be murdered and the total lack of sensitivity toward the victim. That part was handled very poorly and in fact the movie would have been much better had the murder been prevented as it appeared it could have been. It would have led to some very dramatic action and a much better resolution.

sol1218 **SPOILERS** Not your standard whodunit since the killer is known right from the start even when he's disguised as a Belgian Congo man eating cannibal after faking his death at the beginning of the film.The story has to do with NYC Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt, Adolphe Menjou, who on his first vacation in six years decides to go upstate with his faithful secretary Kelly, Ruthelma Stevens, in the out of the way town of Gilead New York. It's in Gilead that Colt plans to get away from the hustle and bustle as well as crime of the big city. As you would expect Colt ends up getting far more then he bargained for when the circus comes to town with one of it's entertainers determined to wipe out all the acts under the big top. By murdering all those who preform them!Were not kept in the dark to who this person is in him being trapeze artist Flandrin, Dwight Frye, in that he's extremely jealous and mad at the second male member of the circus' flying trapeze act The Great Sabastian, Donald Cook. It's The Great Sabastian who's fooling around with Flandrin's wife Josie La Tour, Greta Nissen, who also happens to be his high flying partner! Flandrin not really wanting to live anymore with his wife Josie leaving him is now determined to murder both her and her lover The Great Sabastian before he ends up killing himself with his last bullet!Colt now realizing that his vacation is a thing of the past decides to trap Flandrin by convincing him that he succeeded in killing himself which is part of his plan, by no one suspecting him, in convincing both Josie and The Great Sabastian that he's no longer a threat to either one of them. Thus having both of them let their guard down! There's also this squad of cannibals who Flandrin is using as cover in his mad plan to murder Josie and the Great Sabastian by him using one of their poison dart blow guns as the murder weapon.***SPOILERS*** Colt does everything he possibly can to keep the certifiably insane and dangerous Flandrin at bay until the police arrive. But in Flandrin being so determined to kill himself, as well as Josie & The Great Sabastian, there's very little that Colt and the police can do to stop him. Like a wild eyed kamikaze pilot guiding his explosive laden plane into a US Navy aircraft carrier Flandrin's determination, as well as insanity, overcomes whatever fear he has of death! Dwight Frye in one of his rare, if you can call it that, normal roles makes the best out of a mediocre film with its actual star Adolphe Menjou, as Thatcher Colt, more or less reduced to a secondary role as being Frye's advocate in the movie. A part that Menjou seemed very happy to have in that the less he's seen in the film the easier those watching it will not remember him being in it!

Neil Doyle ADOLPHE MENJOU and RUTHELMA STEVENS do a nice job as D.A. and secretary, a sort of Perry Mason and Della Street type of relationship, both of whom are practicing the art of lip reading, which we know is bound to become a plot device in helping to put the murderer away.Menjou is desperately in need of a vacation, so like so many other criminal sleuths before him, he goes to a small town and is soon involved with a circus troupe and a slew of suspects who are trying to kill either the circus queen or her paramour. For an exotic touch, there are traveling cannibals among the circus entertainers.There are a lot of high wire acrobatics and tension as the jealous husband (DWIGHT FRYE) climbs aboard the tent's outside perimeter to peer down at the high wire acts with a crazy gleam in his eyes. GRETA NISSEN is the circus queen (with a thick accent) that Menjou has to keep a sharp eye on.It's a diverting little circus drama, well photographed by Joseph August and directed at a fast clip by Roy William Neill.