Ah, What Unmitigated Joy It Was, When Circus Ruled the Hearts of America! ... Here's John Ringling North's 1951 Opus at Madison Square Garden, Opening Night Galla for the Heart Fund ... AI Botches Big Top History! ...

Updated below, 3.20.25

Movie Star to Circus Star!  Is that you, Celeste?

Thank you, Shutter Stock!

Yeah, Jimmy, high nose it!  I can feel your joy. That's the greatest Greatest Show up, down, and all around!.

I'll take greatness in grainy any day over schlock in pixels. 

How I would love to have attended one of those Opening Night Galas at Madison Square Garden, when the arena could be drenched in famous faces.

 

 

Do you see any faces wreaking of issues?  Looks to me like a totally embracing crowd

 

There Goes Otto, back into the audience that he can't stay away from!

 

Wee Willie, what are you thinking?  To clown or not to clown?

Serendipity tossed these dazzling mages my way.  The year is 1951.  We're at the circus, opening night at Madison Square Garden ---  a benefit performance for the Heart Fund.  Do I see celebrities riding the floats?  Is that Celeste Holm on the elephants trunk? (Marilyn Monroe rode one in 1955)  My favorite is of Jimmy Durante lapping it all up the sidelines.

This was the show being filmed by Cecil B. DeMille for scenes in his his epic film The Greatest Show on Earth.  The cameras rolled in Sarasota and would be rolling once again when the show hit the canvas road in Philadelphia.

********* updated:

PS I wanted to sign off by quoting some lines from "Come to the Circus" from the GSOE, so I googled in vain for the lyrics, and got this from the latest advance in digital domination:

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The song "Come to the Circus" from the movie The Greatest Show on Earth doesn't have a specific song title or lyrics. It's a musical piece used in the movie's soundtrack, and it's part of the musical score, not a song with specific lyrics.  

Artificial Idiocy anyone?

From AI to DC: 

Came an e-mail from a friend to this blog, not the first time he has offered valuable corrections or missing facts needed.  DC for Don Covington, referring me to  a record I already have and was only listening to a few weeks ago! Okay, maybe I preferred pushing how impossible it was googling up the lyrics (never had trouble finding any song before) over re-listening to Harold Ronk's highly entertaining A Seat at the Circus with "Mr. Singing Ringmaster."  A record I highly recommend to all.  So I put the record back on my turntable.  Ronk opens the show on a high note:

Come to the circus!  See  the circus!  If we're not very careful life can overwork us!  So take today, and make it gay, for there are too many tears along the  way ...

One for DC. Zero for AI.

Thank you, Don.