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Carnival Story

Play trailer Poster for Carnival Story Released Apr 16, 1954 1h 35m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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In search of a better life, a German girl named Willie (Anne Baxter) joins an American carnival that is passing through Munich. While traveling from town to town, she is torn between two suitors: cruel carnival barker Joe (Steve Cochran) and kindhearted high-dive artist Frank (Lyle Bettger). Frank gets the upper hand when he asks Willie to join his act. The partners soon become the most popular attraction at the carnival. But tragedy is only a slip away.
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Carnival Story

Critics Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Had little to say about circus romances. Rated: B- Nov 20, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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steve d A melodramatic mess. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Anne Baxter dives into a pool from high up. Oooh...that's about all the film has to offer. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Audience Member another carnie love triangle yarn Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Silly circus melodrama involving a love triangle between Anne Baxter and a kindly high diver and a sleazy carnival barker. It's a completely dumb story and really the only reason to watch is for camp value. However, I did like the scenes where Baxter learns how to high dive. Those scenes felt like a magician revealing their tricks and were quite fun. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member It's not completely bad, but it's just really weird to me, and part of it is because I can't make sense of what's going on in the film. In this regard, this is because the film has such a boring atmosphere that it's difficult to follow the plot. The film's biggest problem is that it's technically outdated, and it even looks outdated. The plot isn't really bad, but it's boring, as are the characters. The performances aren't very special, mainly because the dated style of acting. Suffice it to say, everything about the film is very outdated, and, in the case of this film, that makes it harder to enjoy the film because there isn't much that could possibly make it interesting. It might be worth seeing once for curiosity's sake, but as far as I'm concerned, that's about it. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Love and death against an exciting backdrop. It's mediocre stuff in reality though. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Carnival Story

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Cast & Crew

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Kurt Neumann

Director

Anne Baxter

Willie

Steve Cochran

Joe Hammond

Lyle Bettger

Frank Colloni

George Nader

Bill Vines

Jay C. Flippen

Charley Grayson
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Carnival Story

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Movie Info

Synopsis In search of a better life, a German girl named Willie (Anne Baxter) joins an American carnival that is passing through Munich. While traveling from town to town, she is torn between two suitors: cruel carnival barker Joe (Steve Cochran) and kindhearted high-dive artist Frank (Lyle Bettger). Frank gets the upper hand when he asks Willie to join his act. The partners soon become the most popular attraction at the carnival. But tragedy is only a slip away.
Director
Kurt Neumann
Producer
Frank King, Maurice King
Screenwriter
Hans Jacoby, Kurt Neumann
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co
King Brothers Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 16, 1954, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 11, 2016
Runtime
1h 35m
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