Side Show

This is not a distinguished or interesting movie, but Charles Butterworth is always worth seeing. He seems to be doing some deadpan vaudeville routine all the time, and I guess you would either think it's funny or you don't, and I do. Plus, the hat gags, especially the one with an elephant and his keeper, are good.

SIDE SHOW (Warner Brothers, 1931), directed by Roy Del Ruth, is vintage circus comedy featuring the antics of comedienne Winnie Lightner. A plump size performer better known for her rowdiness and outburst singing style, SIDE SHOW finds Lightner slimmer, restrained and in glamorous fashion. Aside from that, she's still in character for which she is famous. Sharing equal billing is the droll Charles Butterworth, who's quips and responses appear to be taken from tried and true material acquired from old vaudeville routines. Overall, the major asset for this 64 minute production is Lightner playing the self sacrificing woman always doing something for somebody else, and getting hurt in the process.

Forward: "The special train of Colonel Gowdy's big city shows rambles through the night - a city on wheels - a world in itself." The story begins with Colonel "Pop" Gowdy (Guy Kibbee), a good-natured circus owner, leading his circus troupe by train to the next town. Pat (Winnie Lightner), a circus gal since childhood, assumes many responsibilities in the side show. Aside from ticket booth collector, she takes time assisting Gowdy to bed after one of his many drunken binges. Because Gowdy owes back salary, Tom Whalen (Matthew Betz), the newest member of the troupe, stirs up trouble by talking others to leave the show, and having Pat to either get them back or go on in their place. Pat is madly in love with Joe Palmer (Donald Cook), circus barker and compulsive gambler who takes her for granted. Sidney (Charles Butterworth), a philosopher, loves Pat, but gets the same treatment as Pat gets from Joe. Later, Irene (Evalyn Knapp), Pat's kid sister, having dropped out of school, and leaving both her boyfriend, Jimmy (Edward Morgan), and Aunt Sara (Lucille Ward) behind, decides she wants to join the circus and be near Pat again. All goes well until Joe starts giving Irene his undivided attention.

The plot element of having two sisters loving the same man, causing a strain on their relationship, is nothing new considering a similar theme was previously used for the Academy Award winning backstage musical, "The Broadway Melody" (MGM, 1929). One can very well see some similarities of Lightner, Knapp and Cook in the roles originally played by Melody stars of Bessie Love, Anita Page and Charles King, with the exception of King's character being more sincere than Cook's. Though not an intentional remake, both films do include one crucial moment where the self-sacrificing sister has her face slapped by younger sibling followed by an "I hate you!" outburst. As much as "The Broadway Melody" has its share of now classic songs, SIDE SHOW features only one tune, a likable tune, "What Do You Think of Me Now?" wonderfully sung by Lightner.

In between Lightner's character keeping the carnival from falling apart and some dramatic moments involving her sister, she does provide some side show antics of her own, such as dressing up as a male side show barker; being Princess Mauna, a Hawaiian hula dancer; a female figure posing inside a picture frame while trying to keep her posture; and that of a wild black-face cannibal from Borneo involved in a riot. Lightner's best scene comes where she substitutes for high diver, The Great Santini (Vince Barnett), and getting up the nerve to dive 110 feet through circular fire and into a tank with four feet of water. Lightner's diver disguise, from pencil drawn mustache and wide grin smile, is often hilarious, especially when her face resembles that of comedian, Groucho Marx. On screen, Lightner does everything except flying on a trapeze or getting shot out of a cannon. She may do some clowning, but never gets to play a clown. A pity none of these was considered for additional comedy material. Even Butterworth's participation in Lightner's antics helps make them better than anticipated.

While SIDE SHOW was never remade, one can imagine slapstick queens as Martha Raye or Betty Hutton assuming the role originated by Lightner in a product produced in or about the 1940s with added songs and Technicolor. As for other Lightner comedies made between 1930-33, they're as forgotten as Lightner herself. Many of them can be seen and rediscovered whenever shown again on on Turner Classic Movies cable network. "Hey Rube!" (**)

Winnie Lightner, who I remember liking as a supporting player in Dancing Lady, brings her affable personality to the lead role in this comedy centered around the goings-on in a traveling circus. Although rather episodic, there is a narrative throughline dealing with a love triangle between her, another guy named Joe, and her sister, who visits during the summer when she's out of school. While there wasn't a really memorable arc for anyone, the performances were generally good and there were a couple of standout moments for Winnie Lightner. The first was a bawdy musical number; and the other was late in the film when she really lets one guy have it (Go off, Winnie!). I found the narrative resolution to be rushed, and a bad example of the "Hollywood ending," but I found this Side Show a pleasant diversion.

Winnie Lightner seems very game. She looks like someone who'd be a lot of fun. She's likable and seems up to pretty much any task. But she doesn't come across as someone who could carry a movie -- though she's called to here.

Donald Cook, on the other hand, seems very modern as her shiftless boyfriend. He was an interesting leading man who never really made it big. One wonders why.

The rest of the cast includes many character performers such as Guy Kibbee who worked in Hollywood for decades. I think I a caught a glimpse of the straying husband from "Freaks" (a totally different and infinitely better movie also with a circus theme.)

... with the exception of Guy Kibbee who, ironically, at age 49 was just starting out in motion pictures.

I will say it didn't end up where I thought it would, and you'll have to watch and find out what I mean by that. It's about a small circus traveling from town to town during the Great Depression. The owner, Col. Gowdy (Guy Kibbee) spends lots of his time drunk because it kills him that he can't pay the staff. As a result, Pat (Winnie Lightner) does lots of extra duty trying to hold the circus together and filling in here and there when members of the circus quit or just don't show up for a performance, never to return.

Pat is living with Joe Palmer (Donald Cook), who is a barker for some of the circus acts. He's no good, but for some reason that I could never ascertain, she loves him. He sponges money off of Pat to cover his gambling debts. He seems to be with Pat because no other more attractive or lucrative options have presented themselves. And then one day a more attractive if not more lucrative option presents itself - Pat's kid sister who isn't THAT much of a kid anymore has come to spend the summer with Pat traveling with the circus. Complications ensue.

Punctuating the melodrama I just described are a bunch of short comic bits featuring Lightner and Charles Butterworth, another member of the circus. This usually involves Pat substituting for somebody who has run out on the circus, most prominently the "flame jumper" - a high diver who sets himself aflame and jumps into a tub of water below that has also been set afire.

Like I said, this was a bit of a "last hurrah" for the main actors. Evelyn Knapp, Winnie Lightner, and Donald Cook would never have parts as big as these in a major studio movie again. Donald Cook usually played the rather dull straight arrow, so the part of Joe was a bit of a departure from his usual roles. In fact, if this film had a bigger budget and was made a year later, it would have probably had James Cagney in the part of Joe.