Ringling Brothers: Kings of the Circus

In the small-town America of the late 19th century, the arrival of the circus was a huge event. Schools and businesses closed. Farmers traveled for miles to see scantily clad women riding atop elephants. For a few days, a world utterly different from their normally staid, sterile life enticed audiences to ogle and wonder. The five children of harness-maker August Ringling, a hard-working German immigrant, were entranced with the circus when it visited their hometown of Baraboo, Wisconsin, and when they grew up, Al, Otto, Alf T., Charles and John formed the Ringling Brothers Classic and Comic Concert Company, a variety show that by 1884 had evolved into a small-time circus featuring a headless rooster and an educated hog. The brothers endured sick and dying animals, atrocious weather, and lack of sleep, eventually graduating from wagons to a three-ring circus that traveled by rail like the dominant Barnum & Bailey outfit. In this excellent documentary, featuring two expert commentators, viewers relive the hucksterism ("The Greatest, Most Extravagant, and Thrilling Spectacle Ever Devised!") and competition (Charley Ringling once knocked someone over the head with a hammer when he caught him covering up a Ringling poster). By 1907, Ringling Brothers bought out Barnum & Bailey, and the brothers became millionaires. Yet, by the time John Ringling, the last surviving brother, died in 1936, he was deeply in debt. Although the documentary offers brief glimpses of the modern circus, this is really a portrait of the origins of the big tent. Highly recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (M. Pendergrast)