Themes: Circuses & Carnivals, Ladder to the Top, Cons and Scams
Main Cast: Burt Lancaster, Hanna Schygulla, John Roney, Sandor Raski, Patty Maloney
Release Year: 1986
Country: CA/US
Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
This made-for-television film chronicles the life of 19th-century American showman P. T. Barnum. Using flashbacks (and flash forwards) the earliest efforts of his career are shown, through the formation of the "Greatest Show on Earth" with his partner Bailey, with many interesting things in between. ~ Forest Ray, All Movie Guide
Laura Press - Charity; Kirsten Bishop - Nancy; Lorena Gale - Joyce Heth; Bronwen Mantel - Queen Victoria; Michael Higgins - Phineas Taylor; Deborah Hancock - Caroline; Andrew Bednarski - Little Phineas; Joe Cazalet - James Gordon Bennett; Rob Roy - Horace Greeley; Sean Hewitt - Coley Draper; Shawn Lawrence - R.W. Lindsay; Philip Spensley - Deacon Cox; Chris Wiggins - Olmstead; John McCorkell - Heckler Roberts; Harry Hill - Mr. Fish; Richard Dumont - Hummel; Rummy Bishop - Bank Doorman; Tony Rabinow - Matthew Scott; Michael Sinelnikoff - Lord in Waiting; Joan Heney - Mrs. Stratton; Sam Lemarquand - Chauncey Jerome; Thick Wilson - Museum Passerby; John Stanzil - Tap Dancer; The Royal Hanneford Circus
Credit
Claude Pare - Art Director, Lee Philips - Director, George Jay Nicholson - Editor, Robert Halmi, Jr. - Executive Producer, Charles Gross - Composer (Music Score), William Beeton - Production Designer, Reginald Morris - Cinematographer, David J. Patterson - Producer, Ira Halberstadt - Producer, Andy Siegel - Screen Story, Michael Norell - Screenwriter
