Elia Kazan directed this drama inspired by a true story. Karel Cernik (Fredric March) is the leader of a troupe of Czechoslovakian circus performers who have been plying their trade in Eastern Europe for years. When Czechoslovakia falls under Communist rule, the proud and independent Cernik finds that he is no longer free to operate his circus as he sees fit. Many of his performers are conscripted into military service, and his equipment and possessions are declared government property, though the state fails to maintain it properly, or even to give him access to the material to fix it himself. Finally, when Cernik's remaining performers are ordered to insert pro-Communist messages into their acts, he decides that he can take no more and begins making plans to escape to Bavaria during an upcoming tour.

Starring:

Adolphe Menjou, Alexander D'Arcy, Cameron Mitchell, Dorothea Wieck, Edelweiß Malchin, Fredric March, Gert Fröbe, Gloria Grahame, John Dehner, Margarete Slezak, Pat Henning, Paul Hartman, Philip Kenneally, Richard Boone, Robert Beatty, Rolf von Nauckhoff, Terry Moore, Willy Castello

Genre:

Drama