Dating to 1937 and presented by Adolph Zukor, “The Circus Comes to Town” is narrated by Jack Kofoed and written by Ford Bond. The film features the Cole Brothers Circus in prime form with big cat trainer Clyde Beatty headlining. At 0:20 the film starts with images of the circus train being unloaded. At 1:00, it shows the elephants and horses being unloaded from the circus train and at 1:37 the circus wagons on parade. At 1:50 the narrator talks about the process of erecting the big top tent. At 2:25 it shows workers lay out the massive canvas pieces for the tent and use elephants to help construct the temporary building. At 3:23 you can see the finished circus tent. At 3:30 they show the process of the food being made for the circus workers including 3000 flapjacks or pancakes. At 4:20 a parade in which many floats and horses go down the city streets to attract guests. 5:27 the calliope creates music through steam power. At 6:20, they show the circus in action and the hundreds of people crowding it. At 7:00, it shows the many performers that work at the circus. At 7:18, the circus starts with a small parade. Then, the ringmaster blows his whistle and the action begins. At 7:46, we see a performer doing tricks while riding a horse, a few high wire acts, tricks on top of elephants, tricks with horses, and lastly Clyde Beatty and his famed jungle cats, which he “fights”.
The Cole Bros. Circus was founded in 1884 as “W.W. Cole’s New Colossal Shows”, by William Washington Cole. In the 1930s, the circus was somewhat hampered by the effects of the Depression, but still managed to employ some of the most famous animal trainers in the world, big cat handlers Clyde Beatty and Allen King. Cole Bros. continued to produce shows under the big top into the 21st Century, when animal rights protestors hobbled the enterprise. Clyde Beatty joined Howe’s Great London Circus in 1921 as a cage boy eventually became one of the most famous circus performers and animal trainers in the world. He worked for over 40 years with big cats and owned several circuses including the Clyde Beatty Circus.
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