has a little wit. And the exposition of the drama is so perfunctory, without style or charm, that you get the impression the actors are soldiering on the job." Time wrote, "Though likable enough, this least pretentious of Bronston spectaculars cannot compare to The Greatest Show on Earth. It's just a minor romantic tearjerker, it's Stella Dallas with stardust." They further concluded stating that "[t]o sit through the film is something like holding an elephant on your lap for 2 hours and 15 minutes. You can hardly measure what you have there, but it leaves a definite impression: it's big, it's warm-hearted, and it's tons of fun for the kids." Variety praised the film as a "bigscreen, big boxoffice wedding of spectacle and romance. It should please the masses everywhere, and especially women and children. The pace, as directed by Henry Hathaway, is unslackening. The plot combines action, color, European scenery, melodrama, disaster by fire and catastrophe by water. Underlying all is family-type sex, oldfashioned morality and ample schmaltz." On the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 40% based on 5 reviews with an average rating of 4.64/10. Comic book adaptation Dell Movie Classic: Circus World (September–November 1964) See also List of American films of 1964 John Wayne filmography References Bibliography External links More information at cineramahistory.com 1964 drama films 1964 films American drama films Circus films American Western (genre) films 1964 Western (genre) films 1960s English-language films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films directed by Henry Hathaway Films shot in Barcelona Films shot in Madrid Films shot in Spain American independent films Paramount Pictures films Samuel Bronston Productions films Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films with screenplays by Ben Hecht Films adapted into comics 1960s American films