The Sideshow (1928)

(0) based on 0 votes
Melrose's circus is being threatened by his competitor, who's angry that Melrose has outmanuevered him in bookings; what he doesn't know is that the competitor has also planted a saboteur who creates accidents in hopes of reducing the value of the circus. Meanwhile, he's also hired a beautiful young woman as the magician's assistant, with eyes toward more - but he realizes that, as a midget, she won't have him.
Directors
Release Date
Dec 11, 1928
Runtime
01h 20m
Genre
Available in streaming on

Melrose's circus is being threatened by his competitor, who's angry that Melrose has outmanuevered him in bookings; what he doesn't know is that the competitor has also planted a saboteur who creates accidents in hopes of reducing the value of the circus. Meanwhile, he's also hired a beautiful young woman as the magician's assistant, with eyes toward more - but he realizes that, as a midget, she won't have him.

Movies like The Sideshow

Smalltown Boys

A young man seems to be dreaming of a reality different from the business he is about to take over and the married life that goes with it; he is drawn to the spicy life of a queer vaudeville troupe performing in his village.
Search similar movies
5.0
Smalltown+Boys
Smalltown Boys

2022

Search similar movies
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

A child is born. We see underwater swimmers representing this. He is young, in a jungle setting, with two fanciful "instincts" guiding him as swooping bird-like acrobats initially menace, then delight. As an adolescent, he enters a desert, where a man spins a large cube of metal tubing. He leaves his instinct-guides behind, and enters a garden where two statues dance in a pond. As he watches their sensual acrobatics of love, he becomes a man. He is offered wealth (represented by a golden hat) by a devil figure. In a richly decorated room, a scruffy troupe of a dozen acrobats and a little girl reawaken the old man's youthful nature and love.
Search similar movies
7.1
Cirque+du+Soleil%3A+Journey+of+Man
Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man

2000

Search similar movies
Wings of Desire

Two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, glide through the streets of Berlin, observing the bustling population, providing invisible rays of hope to the distressed but never interacting with them. When Damiel falls in love with lonely trapeze artist Marion, the angel longs to experience life in the physical world, and finds -- with some words of wisdom from actor Peter Falk -- that it might be possible for him to take human form.
Search similar movies
7.8
Wings+of+Desire
Wings of Desire

1987

Search similar movies
La Strada

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
Search similar movies
7.9
La+Strada
Big Fish

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.
Search similar movies
7.8
Big+Fish
The Tin Drum

Oskar Matzerath is a very unusual boy. Refusing to leave the womb until promised a tin drum by his mother, Agnes, Oskar is reluctant to enter a world he sees as filled with hypocrisy and injustice, and vows on his third birthday to never grow up. Miraculously, he gets his wish. As the Nazis rise to power in Danzig, Oskar wills himself to remain a child, beating his tin drum incessantly and screaming in protest at the chaos surrounding him.
Search similar movies
6.9
The+Tin+Drum
The Tin Drum

1979

Search similar movies
1-2-3 Corona

Post-war Germany 1945: Two rival gangs of uprooted boys fight each other in the ruins of Berlin, whose business is the black market out of necessity in order to survive. Their respective leaders are Gerhard and Dietrich. A pretty young circus artist named Corona comes to the destroyed city with a traveling circus. She immediately caught the boys' attention. When the latter notice that the circus director is abusing the girl, the two gangs join forces and plot an act of revenge against the tyrant. But with the hustle and bustle caused by this, Corona falls from the trapeze and is seriously injured. When the circus moves on, the boys organize a doctor for the sick artist who has been left behind. Their collectively concern for the blonde beauty makes them forget their enmity. This welds the troops closer together and sets the course for a common, meaningful future.
Search similar movies
6.0
1-2-3+Corona
1-2-3 Corona

1948

Search similar movies
Street Angel

A spirited young woman finds herself destitute and on the streets before joining a traveling carnival, where she meets a vagabond painter.
Search similar movies
7.0
Street+Angel
Street Angel

1928

Search similar movies
Werckmeister Harmonies

A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
Search similar movies
7.9
Werckmeister+Harmonies
Werckmeister Harmonies

2001

Search similar movies
Dixiana

A circus performer falls in love with the son of a plantation owner in antebellum New Orleans. When the young man's stepmother objects to the wedding, the couple break apart and go their separate ways for a time. Also in the mix are two circus comics who feud over the heart of another Southern belle.
Search similar movies
4.7
Dixiana
Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu

Chandran, a circus performer, and Thankam are in love. The circus team borrows some money from Thankam's father, Paithal Nair. When they are unable to repay, Paithal Nair takes away their animals.
Search similar movies
Nairu+Pidicha+Pulivalu
Nairu Pidicha Pulivalu

1958

Search similar movies
The Last Romantic Lover

The romance between a lion tamer and a liberated girl.
Search similar movies
4.3
The+Last+Romantic+Lover
The Last Romantic Lover

1978

Search similar movies
The Unknown

On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder – a performer who uses his feet to hurl knives. Alonzo keeps the arms he really has concealed to hide his identity. Meanwhile, ringmaster's daughter Nanon has a phobia of being touched by men, but is romantically pursued by not only Alonzo but the strongman Malabar. Alonzo's desperation to remain with Nanon will only end in tragedy.
Search similar movies
7.5
The+Unknown
The Unknown

1927

Search similar movies
He Who Gets Slapped

After a baron steals his scientific discoveries, runs away with his wife, and slaps him in public, a man joins a Parisian circus sideshow as a clown whose act consists of being slapped repeatedly and becomes infatuated with a showgirl colleague whose father intends to marry her off to the baron.
Search similar movies
7.6
He+Who+Gets+Slapped
He Who Gets Slapped

1924

Search similar movies
Circus of Life

A devout Muslim who writes, composes, and even records hymns praising the Prophet, Muhammad Rahat Khawaja is a respected elderly man who works in real estate and takes care of his bedridden wife. One day, he attends the wedding of a friend's son, where he inadvertently shows off a dance in front of his friends and family. His dance gets recorded and then uploaded to all social media platforms, which then also gets broadcasted on television. And chaos begins to ensue in his quiet life. Other than his wife, no one else in the world understands Rahat's circumstances. His daughters and neighbors criticize him, his friends turn their backs on him
Search similar movies
8.4
Circus+of+Life
Circus of Life

2020

Search similar movies
The Greatest Show on Earth

To ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.
Search similar movies
6.3
The+Greatest+Show+on+Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth

1952

Search similar movies
Carnival Magic

A magician in a carnival--who actually can read minds and levitate people and objects--works with a superintelligent chimp named Alex, who can also talk. The magician and the chimp soon become the stars of the carnival, drawing in big crowds. However, the wild-animal trainer, who has been displaced by the team as the carnival's top act, decides to kidnap Alex and sell him to a medical laboratory for experimentation, thereby getting rid of his competition.
Search similar movies
2.7
Carnival+Magic
Carnival Magic

1983

Search similar movies
Mera Naam Joker

Raju faces many hurdles and disappointments in matters of the heart throughout his life. But as a clown in a circus, he tries to make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manager, "The show must go on."
Search similar movies
7.5
Mera+Naam+Joker
Mera Naam Joker

1970

Search similar movies
Santa Sangre

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his mother – the leader of a strange religious cult – and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.
Search similar movies
7.1
Santa+Sangre
Santa Sangre

1989

Search similar movies
Itinerary of a Spoiled Child

A foundling, raised in the circus, Sam Lion becomes a businessman after a trapeze accident. However, when he reaches fifty and becomes tired of his responsibilities and of his son Jean-Philippe, he decides to disappear at sea. However, he runs into Albert Duvivier, one of his former employees. He comes to realise that he has ignored the important things in his life.
Search similar movies
7.3
Itinerary+of+a+Spoiled+Child
Itinerary of a Spoiled Child

1988

Search similar movies
Beyoğlu Güzeli

Plot unavailable
Search similar movies
5.6
Beyo%C4%9Flu+G%C3%BCzeli
Beyoğlu Güzeli

1971

Search similar movies
Trapeze

A pair of men try to perform the dangerous "triple" in their trapeze act. Problems arise when the duo is made into a trio following the addition of a sexy female performer.
Search similar movies
6.3
Trapeze
The Balloon Vendor

A young boy tries to make living out of a puppet show when his mother abandons him and his father.
Search similar movies
7.0
The+Balloon+Vendor
The Balloon Vendor

1974

Search similar movies
Swing High

To avoid hostilities, Maryan, the ward of Doc May, a medicine show owner, induces Pop Garner, a circus owner, to join forces with her guardian. Doc May and Daphne, his wife, work as clowns; and Garry, a singing soldier of fortune, sings along with Maryan's act. Ruth, Maryan's partner, quits to get married; and Joe, who is jealous of Garry, replaces her with Trixie, his former assistant. When Garry announces his engagement to Maryan, Trixie persuades him to join a strip poker game in a drunken state and "compromises" him in the presence of his fiancée. Grief-stricken, Maryan falls during her act, and Garry, robbed of circus funds, is arrested. In spite of her injuries, Maryan, learning of Trixie's treachery, performs the act with her and forces a confession by threatening to drop her; Garry is released and is welcomed back to the show.
Search similar movies
6.5
Swing+High
Swing High

1930

Search similar movies
Lola Montès

Lola Montes, previously a great adventuress, is reduced to being the attraction of a circus after having been the lover of various important men.
Search similar movies
6.8
Lola+Mont%C3%A8s
Lola Montès

1955

Search similar movies
Behind the Sun

Brazilian badlands, April 1910. Tonho is ordered by his father to avenge the death of his older brother. The young man knows that if he commits this crime, his life will be divided in two: the twenty years he has already lived and the few days he has left to live, before the other family avenges their son's death. He is torn between fulfilling his ancestral duty and rebelling against it, urged by his younger brother Pacu. That's when a tiny travelling circus passes through the vast badlands where Tonho's family lives.
Search similar movies
7.3
Behind+the+Sun
Behind the Sun

2001

Search similar movies
Lorraine of the Lions

A ship carrying a touring circus troupe sinks at sea, and Lorraine, a young girl, is washed up on a deserted island. Her only companion is a gorilla from the circus, Bimi, who raises her as its own. Several years later Lorraine's wealthy grandfather, who has hired a psychic to help find her, is led by the psychic to Lorraine's island, and she and Bimi are taken back to "civiliation" in San Francisco, but things don't work out exactly as planned.
Search similar movies
5.5
Lorraine+of+the+Lions
Lorraine of the Lions

1925

Search similar movies
I'll Give a Million

After saving a tramp from suicide, a millionaire takes his clothing and disappears. Word is out that he will give a million dollars to anyone who is kind to a tramp.
Search similar movies
5.7
I%27ll+Give+a+Million
I'll Give a Million

1938

Search similar movies
You Never Know Women

On her way to the theater, Vera, star of a Russian vaudeville troupe, is rescued from a falling girder by Eugene Foster, a wealthy broker who persists in his efforts to win the girl. Foster engages the troupe to perform at his home, and Vera, stunned by a fall, awakens to find Foster pleading his love, while Norodin, her partner who loves her, sees them embrace. Norodin, who performs an underwater stunt, asks Vera not to be present for his act and causes her to believe him dead; heartbroken, Vera tells Foster of her mistake; and enraged, he attempts to seize her. The magician appears, pins Foster to the wall with knives, and advises him to leave before the last blade is thrown.
Search similar movies
6.0
You+Never+Know+Women
You Never Know Women

1926

Search similar movies
The Sin of Nora Moran

Nora Moran, a young woman with a difficult and tragic past, is sentenced to die for a murder that she did not commit. She could easily reveal the truth and save her own life, if only it would not damage the lives, careers and reputations of those whom she loves.
Search similar movies
5.5
The+Sin+of+Nora+Moran
The Sin of Nora Moran

1933

Search similar movies
The Girl on the Bridge

It's night on a Paris bridge. A girl leans over Seine River with tears in her eyes and a violent yearning to drown her sorrows. Out of nowhere someone takes an interest in her. He is Gabor, a knife thrower who needs a human target for his show. The girl, Adele, has never been lucky and nowhere else to go. So she follows him. They travel along the northern bank of the Mediterranean to perform.
Search similar movies
7.1
The+Girl+on+the+Bridge
The Girl on the Bridge

1999

Search similar movies
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away

An original story featuring performances by Cirque du Soleil. A young woman is entranced by an Aerialist. When they fall into the dreamlike world of Cirque du Soleil and are separated, they travel through the different tent worlds trying to find each other.
Search similar movies
7.0
Cirque+du+Soleil%3A+Worlds+Away
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away

2012

Search similar movies
The Wagons Roll at Night

An escaped circus lion provides the impetus for the meeting of carnival owner Nick Coster and Matt Varney, a small-town man who suddenly becomes a lion tamer when he manages to subdue the big cat. While acclimating to carnival life, Matt begins a romance with Nick's sister, Mary, causing tension between Matt and Nick. The latter must also juggle his stormy relationship with glamorous circus star Flo Lorraine.
Search similar movies
6.5
The+Wagons+Roll+at+Night
The Wagons Roll at Night

1941

Search similar movies
The Greatest Showman

The story of American showman P.T. Barnum, founder of the circus that became the famous traveling Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Search similar movies
7.9
The+Greatest+Showman
The Greatest Showman

2017

Search similar movies
King of Thieves

Two amateur circus kids from a poor Ukrainian village, ten-year-old Barbu and his older sister Mimma, are sold to a circus artist called Caruso who promises them a career in the West.
Search similar movies
6.3
King+of+Thieves
King of Thieves

2003

Search similar movies
The One and Only Ivan

A gorilla named Ivan who’s living in a suburban shopping mall tries to piece together his past, with the help of other animals, as they hatch a plan to escape from captivity.
Search similar movies
7.4
The+One+and+Only+Ivan
The One and Only Ivan

2020

Search similar movies
Man Is Not a Bird

A Serbian engineer falls for a younger woman, but he is inept at courtship.
Search similar movies
6.1
Man+Is+Not+a+Bird
Man Is Not a Bird

1965

Search similar movies
It's a Small World

Harry Musk is one in a million. That means that he's the one out of a million children who is perfectly proportioned but will never grow larger than a typical six-year-old. Adult, pint-sized Harry longs to be part of the big world.
Search similar movies
5.3
It%27s+a+Small+World
It's a Small World

1950

Search similar movies
The Big Cage

A circus on the verge of bankruptcy decides to save itself by staging a animal act with lions and tigers for the first time.
Search similar movies
6.0
The+Big+Cage
The Big Cage

1933

Search similar movies
A Tiger Walks

A tiger escapes from a circus truck as it passes by a small town, and hides itself in the surrounding woods. This throws the town into a panic and everyone wants the animal killed immediately, except for the daughter of the sheriff. She wants to capture the tiger and put it in a zoo, thereby saving the tiger's life. Her determination starts a nationwide campaign among children to raise the money to buy the tiger from the circus, but first, she, her father and an Indian tiger trainer must find the tiger before the National Guard do, who have orders to kill it on sight.
Search similar movies
5.7
A+Tiger+Walks
A Tiger Walks

1964

Search similar movies
The Serpent's Egg

Berlin, 1923. Following the suicide of his brother, American circus acrobat Abel Rosenberg attempts to survive while facing unemployment, depression, alcoholism and the social decay of Germany during the Weimar Republic.
Search similar movies
6.3
The+Serpent%27s+Egg
The Serpent's Egg

1977

Search similar movies
Jungle Woman

Paula, the ape woman, has survived the ending of CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN and is running around a creepy old sanitarium run by the kindly Dr. Fletcher, reverting to her true gorilla form every once in a while to kill somebody.
Search similar movies
4.9
Jungle+Woman
Jungle Woman

1944

Search similar movies
The Devil's Circus

In 1913, Carl is released from prison, where he served a sentence for stealing. Spurned by his circumstance, Carl rejects God and resumes his fast life of crime. Before long, his fate intersects with that of Mary, a devout orphan, prompting a romance and a reevaluation.
Search similar movies
6.9
The+Devil%27s+Circus
The Devil's Circus

1926

Search similar movies
Dangerous Curves

A young bareback rider in a circus is in love with a trapeze artist, but he has two problems: he drinks too much and he's fallen under the spell of a "vamp" who's nothing but trouble for him.
Search similar movies
6.0
Dangerous+Curves
Dangerous Curves

1929

Search similar movies