60 years ago this month, Cecil B. DeMille and his camera crews were with the Ringling show, doing on-location filming for THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH. Some of the filming took place May 15-20 during the show’s first under-canvas stand in Washington, D.C., while other scenes were filmed May 21-26 in Philadelphia. (In some of the Washington, D.C. scenes, the Washington Monument can be glimpsed in the background.) Here are a few frame enlargements taken from the sequence showing the unloading & set-up. |
Thursday, May 19, 2011
GSOE #1 (From Eric Beheim)
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4 comments:
They carried 25 elephants in '51 the year the film was shot, down from 28 the year before.
I remember Arky telling my dad that Concello wanted to eliminate a bull car and to get all he could in the remaining two.
This was no problem since Arky had always had the 13 Cole Show bulls in one car
This is the 1951 herd in order of seniority:
1. Jennie (Ringling)
2. Marcella
3. Eva
4. Big Modoc
5. Myrtle
6. Trilby (Wallace)
7. Ruth (Barnes)
8. Babe (Barnes)
9. Jewel (Barnes
10. Jennie (Barnes)
11. Lois
12. Tony
13. Josky
14. Mary
15. Topsy
16. Babe (Wallace)
17. Jewel (Wallace)
18. Ruth (Wallace)
19. Judy
20. Kernaudi (From Germany)
21. Minyak
22. Mudu
23. Sabu
24. Icky
25. Emily (African)
Cheerful Gardner is responsible for having so many elephants with the same names.
He was so impressed with the Al G. Barnes elephants that he rehashed the names on the first baby elephants he trained after moving over to the Corporation
There were only a few places in the country with electrified rail lines, the Pennsylvania Railroad in the northeast being one of them. Photos of circus trains under catenary are relatively rare. It's great to see a photo of the famous PARR GG1 class of electric locomotive on the point of this RBBB section. With all electric power on the point there was no concern about sparks and cinders, nor diesel exhaust fumes. There was also no concern about a lack of power for any gradient or curve, the GG1 had plenty---4620 continuous HP. They served from 1935 to 1983, nearly 50 years.
Most of the interior shots of the big top performance were filmed in Washington DC and most of the exterior shots (train unloading, big top being raised, etc) were at the "new" lot in Philadelphia near the Municipal Stadium at the far end of Broad Street. (Up until 1951the show had set up at G Street and Erie Avenue in Philly). The circus lot seen in the movie is now part of the South Philadelphia Sports Center, which includes Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park and the Wells Fargo Center where Ringling-Barnum now makes its annual appearance. During the time that the GSOE was being filmed in Philadelphia, two large carnivals (John H. Marks Shows and the Lawrence Greater Shows) were set up adjacent to the circus lot. In several scenes you can see some of the rides in the distance.
General Electric built 140 of
these GG-1 locomotives for the
Pennsylvania RR between 34 & 43
Why do so many folks leave off
the "T" in "TGSOE"
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