Les géants du cirque

In some ways this is s standard "formula" mystery. Yet it's a very interesting and off beat film in other respects. A young Mickey Spillane; looking like a near clone of Sean Penn; plays himself as a rather inept detective.

The action takes place in the real Clyde Beatty Circus, where a homicidal maniac is on the loose. Clyde Beatty, who also plays himself, was perhaps the most skilled animal trainer of all time and in the 40s and 50s ran his own circus, a serious competitor to Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. The best parts of the film (at least from my perspective) were closeups of him performing with lions and tigers, often several at a time. You can actually see the highly specific and technical body poses and behaviors he uses to control multiple animals that would love to tear him to pieces. A fascinating peek into the psyches of large carnivores.

Entertaining and quite out of the ordinary.