- Actors: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Miles
- Directors: Basil Dearden
- Format: Black & White, Full Screen, Mono, PAL
- Language English
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
- Classification: U
- Studio: Castle Pictures
- Run Time: 80 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00066847Y
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 877 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
An amiable knock-off of the Ealing comedy style, The Smallest Show on Earth starts with aspiring novelist Bill Travers and his "nice gel" wife Virginia McKenna inheriting a cinema from a hitherto unknown uncle and discovering that it isn't the sumptuous modern Grand, which specialises in those "smash 'em in the face, knock 'em over the waterfront" pictures, but the decrepit Bijou, known locally as "the fleapit". The initial plan, set up by lawyer Leslie Phillips, is to sell off the cinema to the owner of the Grand so he can knock it down to make a car park, but our heroes are put off by the arrogant bullying of the rival manager (Francis De Wolff) and succumb to the inept charms of the crazed, aged staff--drunken projectionist Peter Sellers, doddery commissionaire Bernard Miles and dotty ticket lady Margaret Rutherford (who joined the team as a piano accompanist).
In the 1950s, there was a run of gentle British comedies in which outmoded and broken-down local institutions (steam trains, tugboats, vintage cars) were saved by collections of committed eccentrics who despised the new-fangled bus services or soulless council bureaucracies and were willing to resort to a little larceny (in this case, arson). The Smallest Show slots in perfectly with the cycle, getting laughs from the Bijou's already outmoded programme of scratchy Westerns and desert dramas (which increase ice cream sales) and sentiment over the staff's midnight screenings of silent movies that remind them of better days. It's likeable rather than hilarious, with Sellers and Miles buried under crepe hair and fake wrinkles competing to out-dodder each other and losing the picture to the inimitable Rutherford, who doesn't have to fake her eccentricity. Pin-up, June Cunningham, is the glamorous usherette and Sid James plays her annoyed Dad.
On the DVD: The Smallest Show on Earth is presented in a decent print, but with no extras. The film is also available as part of the four-disc Peter Sellers Collection. --Kim Newman
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Don't be deterred from buying this wonderful DVD by the aforementioned question of running time. ALL Region 2 versions of movies - that is, any disc using the PAL television system - will seem to be shorter than the running time given in film-books and databases. The latter usually take the original cinema screening time, but the PAL system has to play the programme slightly faster thereby cutting the playback time by about 3 minutes in every hour. The Region 1 (NTSC) system more closely approximates to the theatrical run time but even that is not exact. Check up on the specifications of the two systems for a fuller explanation, but rest assured that if a movie on a PAL disc seems to be about 4 minutes shorter than stated elsewhere that does not mean it has been cut or edited. It's merely an anomaly of the technology. Hope that helps.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
There is no doubt that this is one of the most charming English films of the 1950s. Sadly this version listed as 77 minutes is actually 73 minutes, the original version being 81 minutes. The changes that this origonally delightful film has been subject to, are quite unnecessary, the editing only detracts from the enjoyment of the film. Take my advice and get an unedited version. You will like it so much more.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This 1957 classic ranks next to my all-time favourite classic British comedies. Husband and wife team, Bill Travers, and Virginia McKenna inherit a run-down cinema along with its staff, Margaret Rutherford, and the excellent Peter Sellers as the elderly projectionist. Their inheritance pays off, but cathces the shady intentions of their rival (Francis De Wolff- better known as the shape-changing robot, Jedikiah, in two episodes of, "The Tomorrow People").
The film must be seen. Grab the chance while you can. Very highly recommended.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Smallest moving picture on earth
This film actually depicts the disgust of producers and directors for old cinema's and old movies. The main characters only care about making much money out of an old cinema. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Tjitte de Vries
Yes, it's been cut. Yes, it's still wonderful.
I first saw this film in a theatre in California in about 1962, under the American title of Big Time Operators, and I remember bits that are missing in the DVD version. Read more
Published on 14 Oct 2009 by Richard Simonton
GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES!
This is the story of a cinema - or Kinema, as Margaret Rutherford's elderly usherette insists on calling it. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2007 by Green Knight
The Smallest Show On Earth
This is a well crafted film, boasting teriffic atmosphere and a cracking cast. The story involves a young couple inheriting a small, run-down provincial cinema and going into... Read more
Published on 9 Jan 2006 by D G Stewart
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