Barnum DVD & Digital ~ #Review #MillCreekEntertainment
Disclosure: I received a free copy of the Barnum DVD and all opinions expressed here are my own.
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| Photo Credit: Mill Creek Entertainment |
SYNOPSIS
Based on the True Story behind the Greatest Showman on Earth!
The rags-to-riches life of P.T. Barnum (Burt Lancaster), the iconic carnival showman and co-creator of "The Greatest Show on Earth," is told in this TV movie. The elderly and still puckish Barnum recounts via flashbacks his adventures as a floundering teenage salesman and an exhibitor of human oddities, and his eventual role as the entertainer who brought attractions such as Tom Thumb (Sandor Raski) and "the Swedish Nightingale," Jenny Lind (Hanna Schygulla), to the American masses.
My Thoughts:
If you are a fan of P.T. Barnum, the founder of The Greatest Shown on Earth circus, here is a film you may like to view.
Burt Lancaster stars as P.T. Barnum and tells of his life growing up, when his grandfather gave him Ivy Island as a gift - a parcel of land which he said would make his grandson very rich. Barnum's father died when he was 15 years old and he worked in a general store. By the time Barnum was 16 he was in the store keeping business and started conducting lotteries to make money also.
After he was married Barnum moved to New York City from Connecticut. It tells of him purchasing a so called "161" year old former slave named Joyce Heth that was supposedly George Washington's nurse; and opened an exhibition for people to purchase tickets to see her. Later he added jugglers to his show.
If you are a fan of P.T. Barnum, the founder of The Greatest Shown on Earth circus, here is a film you may like to view.
Burt Lancaster stars as P.T. Barnum and tells of his life growing up, when his grandfather gave him Ivy Island as a gift - a parcel of land which he said would make his grandson very rich. Barnum's father died when he was 15 years old and he worked in a general store. By the time Barnum was 16 he was in the store keeping business and started conducting lotteries to make money also.
After he was married Barnum moved to New York City from Connecticut. It tells of him purchasing a so called "161" year old former slave named Joyce Heth that was supposedly George Washington's nurse; and opened an exhibition for people to purchase tickets to see her. Later he added jugglers to his show.
The film tells of him going broke 10 times and going to borrow money, using his land which he inherited from his grandfather to use as collateral. He purchased a museum building with unusual oddities. He also made popular a "little person" which he named General Tom Thumb, who did song and dance routines. Barnum and he even sailed to London, England for performances and was invited to perform for Queen Victoria.
By 1850 Barnum was very wealthy and built his family a mansion in Connecticut. In addition Jenny Lind, who was a famous Swedish opera singer entitled "The Swedish Nightingale" at the time was brought to America by Barnum. He had never heard her voice before but accepted her requirements of a large sum of money to have her come to America to sing for his company.
When Barnum was 70 years old he partnered with Bailey to produce Barnum and Bailey circus. It told of his also purchasing Jumbo the elephant from the London Zoo and how millions of children had rides on him.
All in all this was a film that I found to be pretty interesting. Everyone has heard of Barnum & Bailey circus I think, anyways I have. I learned how Barnum took chances and made a fortune with his imagination.
Sounds like an interesting fellow! Yes, I've heard of the Barnum & Bailey circus. It sounds like he went through a lot of trials and hard work before everything finally paid off.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was pretty interesting to find out all the projects and things he was into before starting the Barnum and Bailey circus. I love finding out all about people's lives, especially when they are famous and how they got to be that way.
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