American Experience (TV Series) The Circus: Part 1 (2018) User Reviews

Brilliant accidental find!

[charlyparly · 9/10 · 12 January 2020]

Found this on Netflix after an eternity of looking for something to sprawl out on the sofa and watch with the dogs. What a brilliant documentary too really interesting and well put together.

As a lifelong lover and owner / trainer of dog and horses I've always had an interest in the origins of the circus even if the animals and the training techniques used are devastatingly sad to realise now. It touched sensitively on the problems with trainers that either wouldn't or couldn't grasp the need for anything other than use of force and harsh, heavy handed techniques but it didn't preach or unfairly pass judgement on what was an acceptable if not encouraged at the time.

After it finished I got up to make a cup of tea and the second started to play and made me "Ooooh yay there's a second bit!" and get comfy back on sofa with the dogs.

It's an interesting, well researched and respectful insight into the origins of the circus and well done.

A brief history of the American circus.

[TxMike · 22 December 2018]

I found this on a DVD set at my public library. It is almost 4 hours of content on two disks. It uses a lot of old photos and film to supplement the script and tell the visual story of the history of the circus in America. Good documentary.

P.T. Barnum was arguably the main driving force with his eye for the fantastic and how to turn that into shows that would entertain and be profitable. While there came to be many, many smaller circuses touring the big names were Barnum, Bailey, and the five Ringling Brothers. Eventually, as Barnum then Bailey died the remains became all one big circus. At its height the traveling circus was a small city and returned large profits to their owners.

This documentary, the story of the genesis then growth of the circuses, is very well put together, focusing not only on the creators and owners but also on select performers and incidents like the big top fire that killed a large number of audience members who could not escape.

The documentary credits the advent of television as a reason circuses eventually became unprofitable. Citing shows like the Ed Sullivan show, which brought circus type magic into peoples' homes, it was no longer necessary to go to a circus to be amazed. Plus the additional safety restrictions on circus operation and the advent of labor unions demanding higher wages and benefits, all which contributed to the demise of the big circus.

EXCELLENT

[grahamvr · 10/10 · 5 May 2019]

What an excellent series THE CIRCUS. It showed me a glorious part of history that I really didn't know much about other than watching the Cecil B DeMille movie THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. Once I dreamed of running away to join a circus but it not eventuate. Well worth watching. I saw this on Netflix in Australia in May 2019. Thank you for making this possible.