The Smallest Show on Earth (US: Big Time Operators) is a 1957 British comedy film, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Peter Sellers and Margaret Rutherford. The supporting cast includes Bernard Miles, Leslie Phillips, Francis de Wolff, George Cross, June Cunningham and Sid James. The screenplay was written by William Rose and John Eldridge from an original story by William Rose. Plot Matt and Jean (Travers and McKenna) are a young couple with a longing to visit exotic places such as Samarkand. Matt inherits a cinema from his great uncle. When they look over their new property, they first mistake the modern Grand for it. They are soon disillusioned to learn that the cinema they actually own is the old decrepit Bijou Kinema (nicknamed "the flea pit"), which is sandwiched between two railway bridges. Along with the cinema come three long-time employees: Mrs. Fazackalee (Rutherford), the cashier and bookkeeper; Mr. Quill (Sellers), the projectionist; and Old Tom (Miles) the commissionaire, doorkeeper and usher. Robin (Phillips), their solicitor, informs them that the Grand's owner, Mr. Hardcastle (De Wolff), had offered to buy the Bijou from Matt's great uncle for five thousand pounds in order to construct a car park for his nearby cinema. When they see their competitor however, he only offers them five hundred, thinking they have no choice but to accept. Instead, on Robin's advice, they pretend to want to reopen the Bijou in order to force Hardcastle to raise his offer. At first, they seem to be succeeding, but then Old Tom inadvertently lets slip their overheard plan and Hardcastle refuses to budge. They decide to carry on with their bluff and go through with the opening. After a few mishaps, the business flourishes, especially after Matt employs the curvaceous Marlene Hogg (Cunningham) to sell ice creams and other treats at the interval. To increase sales, the heat in the theater was turned up during the showing of a film where parched actors crawled across a desert. Hardcastle counters by slipping a bottle of whisky into the next shipment of film reels for Quill, who has a drink problem. He eventually succumbs to the temptation, leaving Matt to try unsuccessfully to substitute for him; Matt is unable to work the antiquated projectors properly, and they are forced to refund the customers' money. Matt and Jean are ready to give up (with Old Tom eavesdropping