| Carnival Story | |
| Director: | Kurt Neumann |
| Starring: | Anne Baxter Steve Cochran Lyle Bettger |
| Producer: | Frank King Maurice King |
| Music: | Willy Schmidt-Gentner |
| Cinematography: | Ernest Haller |
| Studio: | King Brothers Productions Westia Film |
| Distributor: | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes |
| Country: | United States West Germany |
| Language: | English |
| Gross: | $2 million (US)[1] |
Carnival Story is a 1954 drama film directed by Kurt Neumann, produced by Frank King and Maurice King, starring Anne Baxter and Steve Cochran, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. It was made as a co-production between West Germany and the United States.
Sometimes this film is credited as a 3D feature, although it wasn't filmed or exhibited in a three-dimensional process.[2] This idea in many sources may be based on a wrong note from Variety in 1953.[3] Neumann simultaneously directed a German language version Circus of Love with Bernhard Wicki, Eva Bartok, and Curd Jürgens.[4]
The melodrama set in a circus was filmed at the Bavaria Studios in Munich and on location in the city. The sets were designed by the art directors Hans Kuhnert and Theo Zwierski. The film was shot in Agfacolor with prints by Technicolor.
Grayson's Amerikanische Wunderschau ("American Show Of Wonders"), a traveling carnival, comes to Munich with acts that include high-dive artist Frank Collini (Lyle Bettger) and silent strongman Groppo (Ady Berber). A local girl named Willi (Anne Baxter) picks the pocket of Joe (Steve Cochran), who works for the carny, and he ends up offering her a job.
Joe makes romantic advances to Willi, who tries to resist him but can't. Then Collini asks if she would like to become a part of his act, which involves diving into a flaming tank of water from a great height. He also proposes marriage on Willi's first night as part of the show.
Magazine photographer Bill comes to take their picture as the Great Collinis' fame grows. Collini beats Joe up after catching him with Willi, whereupon Collini plunges to his death after a rung on his high-dive ladder breaks.
Willi inherits $5,000. Joe spends the night with her, but the next morning, he is gone as is her money. She eventually gets Joe to confess that he sawed Collini's rung in two, deliberately causing his death. When Willi asserts her independence from Joe, he tries to strangle her. Hearing her cries for help, Groppo comes to Willi's rescue and chases Joe who tries to escape on a Ferris wheel. Groppo climbs to the top of the wheel and throws Joe off, killing Joe; and Groppo is led away by the police.
The King Brothers later sued RKO for mismanaging the distribution and sale of the film, claiming $20,000 in damages.[5]