Original Columbia Pictures One Sheet poster for the Henry Hathaway film CIRCUS WORLD (1964) starring John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth. Samuel Bronston was a colorful character who produced epic films in Europe which received the big 70mm distribution treatment from several of the Hollywood studios. He began this pattern with MGM. MGM were looking to follow up the huge success of BEN-HUR (1959) with another film. The movie was KING OF KINGS (1961) directed by Nicholas Ray. Other films followed – gigantic independent productions with big stars and distributed by big Hollywood studios: EL CID, THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, 55 DAYS AT PEKING. The last of these behemoths was CIRCUS WORLD, distributed by Paramount and intended for the Cinerama circuit. Life under the Big Top had been covered better by several other films, with their train wrecks, animal escapes, even mayhem. Here the attraction was The Duke of course, a somewhat long-in-the-tooth-for this-kind-of-thing Rita Hayworth, and the beautiful Claudia Cardinale. Veteran director Henry Hathaway was hired to helm the movie for the giant Cinerama screen. This poster is for the U.S. 35mm release of the movie. The poster has some staple holes in the corners, a small crease in the lower left corner. No fold separation. Some small pinholes.
