Circus Day in Our Town
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Circus Day in Our Town is a short film from 1949 released on 16mm. It is held in the Prelinger Archives collection.
This film has amazing footage of a circus coming into a town, the townspeople helping with construction of the circus tents, the clowns preparing for their performance and the variety of circus acts and the crowds viewing them.
| Circus Day in Our Town | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Encyclopaedia Britannica Films |
Production company | Encyclopaedia Britannica Films |
| Distributed by | Encyclopaedia Britannica Films |
Release date | 1949 |
Running time | 14:36 |
| Language | English |
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Shot List
Shot List A
- A circus train pulling into a station. Circus carts being rolled off the train. Elephants walking down train ramps.
- An elephant pulling up a long wooden pole with ropes.
- Men pounding in stakes with mallets
- A machine pounding in stakes.
- A group of men unrolling a large piece of canvas, pulling on the canvas.
- An elephant unrolling a bundle of canvas.
- A trailer that plays calliope music
- A sword swallower
- Man putting his clown face on, looking in a mirror
- a marching band
- two girls eating cotton candy
- dogs playing "basketball" with a balloon
- Crowd seated inside the "big top", clapping
- A rollerskating duo, man spins in circles while holding a woman by his teeth, she is spinning suspended in the air, twirling
- trapeze artists
- acrobats
- clowns, prancing horses, an aerial ballet
- woman in a tutu does a bareback act, clown in a bareback act, human pyramid on horseback
- tight wire dance, elephant act, elephant laying on a woman
- human bullets into the barrel of a cannon, shooting out into a net
13:17:01 Elephants coming out of boxcar 13:17:54 Father letting small child be nuzzled by circus elephant 13:18:35 Circus tent entrance 13:19:05 Sideshow entrance 13:19:17 Minstrel show tent 13:19:24 Little African American boys standing in front of minstrel show poster 13:19:28 Sword swallower 13:20:00 Clowns putting on makeup 13:30:17 MCU Clowns coming out of tent 13:21:17 Short crowd shot 13:21:19 Roller skating tricks 13:21:34 MLS Aerial lady acrobats 13:21:52 Group of acrobats in Russian costumes 13:22:22 MCU Clowns 13:23:37 MCU Horses rearing up right in front of trainer 13:23:47 Aerial ballet 13:24:24 Female bareback rider (in a tutu) 13:24:39 Clown falling (almost) off horse 13:24:56 More clowns on horseback 13:25:36 Man standing sideways on horseback (nice clear shot) 13:26:02 Clown walks off back of horse 13:26:38 Wobbly tightrope walker 13:26:59 Tightrope walker nearly falls 13:27:05 MCU Elephants feet and legs 13:28:18 Elephant gets on top of circus lady 13:28:28 CU Lady's face with elephant feet 13:28:42 Human cannonball preparation [crowd shot of kids] 13:28:54 More cannonball preparation 13:29:09 MLS Human cannonballs shoot out
Shot List B
Black and white film: circus comes into town by train. A lot is being unloaded including wagons, horses, people, large tent poles and elephants. People crowd around to watch.
What difference to work, horses out of their cars, wagons to unload, get out the circus grounds with every day a new town. Here goes a load of tent poles. Got to be careful getting them down. We can always use more help, and here’s big Blanch our largest elephant and leader of our herd.
Elephants march down a street as people watch from the sidelines. Workers are seen bringing in the tent poles into the fairgrounds. Several men work together to stretch the very large tent canvas out.
But right now they are off for the show grounds a mile or so away to help put up the big tent. The biggest pole wagon is just coming on to the circus grounds. And this will be laced together to make one big tent almost as long as a city block.
The workers tie and secure all the ropes laced in the tent and start putting up the tent poles. Then ropes are on pulleys attached to an elephant, the elephant pulls the ‘Big Top’ tent up by walking and pulling the ropes. More elephants are shown inside the tent helping put up tent poles.
Piece by piece the big tent is put together. Meanwhile our strong elephants are waiting to be called to their next job. Up go side poles around the edges and here’s where the town boys can really help. Up goes the tent roof to the top and here’s where Blanch can really help. She saves us a lot of time each morning. The rest of the elephant herd is working too.
The ‘Big Top’ tent is up with the canvas fully stretched, the whole tent is enormous. The flags on top of the tent are several feet high in the air shown waving in the wind, including the flag of the United States of America. Another smaller tent is being set up; the words on it read ‘The Greatest Circus On Earth Entrance.’
And now the big is top up, canvas tightly stretched, flag waving. Up goes the main entrance. We’ll soon be going through it to the big show.
Close up of an ornately decorated wagon the word ‘America’ on it. The camera pans out to show the people around the circus entrance and the painted banners advertising the sideshows. A man at a podium, the ‘Bally’, is speaking out to the crowd in front of the sideshow entrance. There are many attractions including items for sale, balloons and food stands with treats.
Matinee time, hear the steam Calliope playing? Here is where the Midway begins the street of little tents, with candy stands and sideshows each with its own barker. Step up folks buy your tickets. There’s plenty of time to see the sideshow before the matinee goes on. All the sideshows on just one ticket.
An all African American band shown playing tambourines and entertaining the crowd. The sign in the background of the band reads ‘Prof. Brown’s Minstrel Jubilee.’ Another act is shown, a man in costume puts a sword all the way down his throat and pulls it back out.
Yes folks it’s Professor Brown and his Dixie Jubilee Show. And here’s the man who likes swords for breakfast without an ounce of cream or sugar.
Caption reads ‘THE END Encyclopedia Britannica Films Inc.’