More Elia Kazan completism. It's black-and-white in Czechoslovakia where the party apparatus, with Stalin looking on, attempts to subtly address a circus (ex-)owner's political incorrectness while the secret police know only more brutal methods. The mode shift in the middle is welcome. I enjoyed the smouldering, dripping contempt of Gloria Grahame: all the woman wanted was a little domestic violence from her husband-clown (lead and two-time Oscar winner Fredric March). Nowhere as tiresome as Nightmare Alley and at times a bit fun.
Bosley Crowther and A. W. at the time.