Atypical John Wayne film where he runs a circus and deals with woman troubles. It's a soap opera basically. Wayne does fine I guess but this isn't one of his better roles. To be honest he's a little miscast, as you'll see early on with some of the light comedic scenes. Rita Hayworth plays his former and future love interest in one of her final big roles. Claudia Cardinale is not at all believable as the daughter of Duke & Rita. Her accent is out of place since she was raised by Wayne. She's also not believable as a tomboy at all, given she was a gorgeous curvy twenty-something extremely feminine woman with oodles of sex appeal at this time.
It's a good looking picture, which is probably its biggest strength. None of the stars really shine. The first half hour seems like one character after another introducing more backstory than you can stand. The movie just goes on way too long with a story far too weak for two hours plus.
It's a good looking picture, which is probably its biggest strength. None of the stars really shine. The first half hour seems like one character after another introducing more backstory than you can stand. The movie just goes on way too long with a story far too weak for two hours plus.