How John Wayne Almost Died Filming ‘Circus World’ Back in 1964

John Wayne loved Westerns. Out of his 142 film roles, 83 had him in some frontier-related role. The Stagecoach star often expressed his admiration for the popular genre, claiming it promoted morality and strong American values. Wayne also felt that Westerns promoted the masculine traits of honor, bravery, and self-reliance, which aligned with his philosophy. He would repeat these remarks several times, notably in a 1969 Time Magazine interview, where he stated that “The West is where a man could be a man.”

Circus World

Release Date

June 25, 1964

Runtime

135 minutes

Director

Henry Hathaway

Writers

Ben Hecht, James Edward Grant

Producers

Samuel Bronston

Cast

• Claudia Cardinale

  Toni Alfredo

• Rita Hayworth

  Lili Alfredo

Because of his views, Wayne never failed to give his best whenever he was making a Western. Take it easy? No chance. While filming Undefeated, he reportedly got seriously injured while riding a horse. Despite that, he continued to film, relying on nothing but back rubs to ease the pain. And while filming Big Jake, he stepped in to direct many scenes himself when director George Sherman fell ill for a long time. However, one particular incident almost killed him, and it happened during the production of one of his worst Westerns: Circus World.

John Wayne Is a Wild West Circus Star in ‘Circus World’

Paramount Pictures

Directed by Henry Hathaway (better known for the original True Grit), Circus World stars John Wayne as Matt Masters, a circus star modeled after Buffalo Bill. Masters purchases a bankrupt circus in 1885 and rebuilds it into a successful Wild West extravaganza by blending inventive cowboy moves with conventional circus acts. After successful tours across America, he figures it is time for a change. He thus announces plans to take his show to Europe.

Related

This John Wayne Western Is Perfect for Date Night, According to Quentin Tarantino

No rom-coms or romance period dramas. Quentin Tarantino recommends a classic John Wayne Western for date night.

Masters’ associate, Cap Carson (Lloyd Nolan), is against the idea of taking the successful show to a new continent, claiming that American circuses never fare well in Europe. He also believes Masters’ priorities aren’t right. The protagonist isn’t just motivated by business prospects. He intends to find his lost love, Lili Alfredo (Rita Hayworth), and figures that the tour might flush her out of hiding and make her want to see her child, Toni Alfredo (Claudia Cardinale), who will be accompanying him. Masters and Lili were always a bickering couple, destined for expletive-laden meltdowns at any point, but the protagonist figures things will be better this time.

A few other people try to dissuade Masters, but he doesn’t listen. He purchases a freighter, renames her the Circus Maximus, and sets sail for Europe. Once Masters and his crew arrive in Barcelona, Spain, the Circus Maximus capsizes at the pier, forcing the protagonist to release most of his performers. How will he cope with this new, unfortunate event? Will he retreat from the business and his broken dreams? As a series of mini-twists unravel around Masters, Circus World inexorably mounts up to a tense denouement.

A Miscommunication Almost Resulted in Wayne’s Death on the Set of ‘Circus World’

Paramount Pictures

Several sources, including Scott Eyman’s biographical book, John Wayne: The Life & Legend, and The Magnificent Showman: The Epic Films of Samuel Bronston by Mel Martin, offer insights into what the production of Circus World was like. John Wayne wasn’t in the best of moods going into the film. He had just signed a six-picture, seven-year contract with Paramount, with a calculation of $500,000 per picture, which was well below his standard price of $750,000. On the plus side, the studio had paid the entire amount upfront. He was also coming off hits McLintock and How the West Was Won, which meant that his salary would have continued growing over the next few years.

However, Wayne had another reason to be happy. He had a lot of creative control, given his star power. The actor had a say in the script, and on the director he wanted to work with. And when it came to doing his part in front of the camera, he didn’t hold back. But then tragedy almost struck.

Related

John Wayne Named One of His Own Movies as the Greatest Western of All Time

John Wayne rightly selected ‘The Searchers’ as being among the greatest films ever made.

According to the actor’s estate, he had a close call while shooting a specific scene. “Whilst filming a scene where the main tent catches fire, John Wayne was almost killed when the set collapsed,” the report reads. The star was supposed to be cued up by the assistant director so that he would know when to run away from the burning tent, but, because of a miscommunication, “he escaped with just a few seconds to spare before the entire set would have fallen on top of him.”

Interestingly, director Henry Hathaway, who could have taken a chunk of responsibility for this particular incident, wasn’t so apologetic. In his interview with the Focus on Film magazine, he suggested that what happened was a common actor mistake, and someone with John Wayne’s experience should have known better.

“The hardest thing is getting people out of g****m scenes. It’s very difficult to get them in and out of scenes gracefully. Another thing that most people never learn is that in each scene there’s a reason for that scene and, as soon as you hit it, get out as fast as you can or there’ll be a repetition of it or it hangs on too long.”

Well, there’s some little sense to be found in his words, but he or his people sure should have handled the situation a little better. Wayne, too, should have been more aware of his surroundings. Even sadder, the sacrifice would have been for nothing, as this turned out to be one of his worst westerns.

‘Circus World’ Was Panned by Critics and Underperformed at the Box Office

Paramount Pictures

Made on a budget of $9 million, Circus World only made $1.6 million. This was a huge disappointment for a movie with a star like John Wayne. Besides that, critics of the time didn’t like it. Additionally, a few critics responded kindly to it. On Rotten Tomatoes, the romantic drama western has a score of 50%, placing it in the rotten category.

The lack of success is understandable, considering that the film offers nothing different from the numerous circus flicks of the era. Even at slightly over two hours, the Western feels overly long and static, failing to evoke more than a shade of the greatness of Wayne’s critically acclaimed works. Blending Western elements with animal stunts was a good idea, and something great would have come out of it had the concept been properly executed. Unfortunately, there are no standout circus stunts. There’s nothing unique in the romance plot either.

Related

John Wayne Copied Clint Eastwood With These ’70s Cop Thrillers

John Wayne’s move to the cop thriller genre in the 1970s was inspired by his rivalry with Clint Eastwood.

Part of that has to do with the fact that it was never clear who should write the movie. The story was conceived by screenwriter Bernard Gordon, only for Frank Capra to be hired to write and direct. Unhappy with the script, John Wayne enlisted James Edward Grant to help rework it. Unsurprisingly, the two writers ended up clashing over story ideas.

About Capra’s script, Grant famously said, “When you read this thing, it is easy to understand why this guy hasn’t had a hit since Robert Riskin died.” In Capra’s autobiography, he reveals that Grant told him that, “all you gotta have in a John Wayne picture is a hoity-toity dame with big breasts that Wayne can throw over his knees and spank, and a collection of jerks he can smash in the face every five minutes. In between, you fill in with gags, flags, and chases. That’s all you need, his fans eat it up.” Henry Hathaway was then hired to handle everything, including script duties, with Capra being fired.

Well, the behind-the-scenes story was clearly better than what played out in the movie. Once he took over, Hathaway hired two new writers to help salvage things. But nothing ever improved. The filmmaker would later describe the movie as a “mistake,” admitting that the fundamental story material was weak. Hathaway also regretted his decision to accept the job so quickly and for being okay with the limited time required to complete it, considering that he was normally someone who never rushed.

So many regrets, but fans will just be glad that no one was hurt. Is Circus World terrible? Not really. The Western is not as profound and as smoothly paced as it might have been had more care been given to its storyline, but the cinematography, together with the stylish performances from its glittering ensemble of talented actors, makes it well worth watching on a slow afternoon.

You can view the original article HERE.