The Greatest Show on Earth

but the drama never stops. 728 00:52:32,775 --> 00:52:35,141 In the gray, drizzly morning, 729 00:52:35,277 --> 00:52:39,361 the first section of the circus train pulls into the railroad yara, 730 00:52:39,490 --> 00:52:41,697 long before the city is awake. 731 00:52:42,242 --> 00:52:45,860 But the animals are awake and looking for their breakfast. 732 00:52:45,996 --> 00:52:48,112 Then comes the unloading. 733 00:52:48,248 --> 00:52:52,992 Two hundred tons of living power. Sixty carloads of equipment. 734 00:52:54,254 --> 00:52:57,121 Wheels rolling, gears grinding. 735 00:52:57,257 --> 00:53:01,500 A circus is gigantic power and unceasing movement. 736 00:53:02,429 --> 00:53:04,294 It is a restless giant, 737 00:53:04,431 --> 00:53:08,424 unlimbering its muscles after the long night ride 738 00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:11,393 before moving in to capture a new city. 739 00:53:12,773 --> 00:53:16,482 Up from the railroad yards with their faithful escort 740 00:53:16,610 --> 00:53:20,819 of early-rising young fans who've been waiting since daybreak 741 00:53:20,948 --> 00:53:23,234 to follow these living tanks 742 00:53:23,367 --> 00:53:26,859 as they lumber and sway to the circus grounds, 743 00:53:26,995 --> 00:53:31,034 where the stakes are being driven that will anchor the big top 744 00:53:31,166 --> 00:53:34,124 against the beating of its constant adversaries, 745 00:53:34,253 --> 00:53:36,084 wind and rain. 746 00:53:36,213 --> 00:53:39,876 An army is at work, an army the audience never sees. 747 00:53:40,801 --> 00:53:45,170 An army that must be moved from city to city, fed and housed, 748 00:53:45,305 --> 00:53:48,468 a thousand strong, hardworking men, 749 00:53:48,600 --> 00:53:52,513 moving like a finely-geared machine, with one purpose, 750 00:53:52,646 --> 00:53:54,261 to roll the show. 751 00:53:55,107 --> 00:53:58,190 The all-important baling ring clangs into place. 752 00:53:58,318 --> 00:54:03,028 Bales of fireproof canvas, 58,000 pounds of it, 753 00:54:03,157 --> 00:54:05,819 are hauled out, unwrapped, rolled out, 754 00:54:05,951 --> 00:54:08,613 stretched, laid on the ground, 755 00:54:08,746 --> 00:54:13,035 where it lies like the skin of a mighty dismembered giant, 756 00:54:13,167 --> 00:54:15,032 waiting for some magician 757 00:54:15,169 --> 00:54:18,411 to bring it together and give it life, 758 00:54:19,423 --> 00:54:21,880 waiting until, one by one, 759 00:54:22,009 --> 00:54:25,422 the giant's ribs rise into place 760 00:54:25,554 --> 00:54:28,136 and are firmly fastened in the earth. 761 00:54:29,391 --> 00:54:33,304 Boys line up for the punt games, a chance for a free ticket. 762 00:54:34,271 --> 00:54:37,434 The disciplined army never loses a moment nor wastes a motion. 763 00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:42,814 The boss canvas man makes fast the canvas to the baling ring. 764 00:54:42,946 --> 00:54:45,483 The lives of all depend on it. 765 00:54:45,616 --> 00:54:48,983 Each of the hundreds of roustabouts has his place and his job, 766 00:54:49,119 --> 00:54:53,954 a responsible job, for one mistake, one bit of carelessness, 767 00:54:54,082 --> 00:54:55,572 could cost a life. 768 00:54:55,709 --> 00:54:57,745 The giant's skin is stretched out 769 00:54:57,878 --> 00:55:00,995 until it lies smooth and moldeaq, 770 00:55:01,715 --> 00:55:04,502 like the bowl of a great coliseum. 771 00:55:04,635 --> 00:55:06,421 But eyes watching for trouble 772 00:55:06,553 --> 00:55:09,636 have noticed a little tear that must be patched 773 00:55:09,765 --> 00:55:12,632 before the searching fingers of the wind 774 00:55:12,768 --> 00:55:14,804 can rip it into a disaster, 775 00:55:15,521 --> 00:55:17,807 before the giant can stand up and stretch 776 00:55:17,940 --> 00:55:20,807 over his feast of color and laughter. 777 00:55:21,902 --> 00:55:24,439 Now the giant comes to life. 778 00:55:24,571 --> 00:55:27,688 Slowly, the tons and tons of his canvas body 779 00:55:27,825 --> 00:55:29,907 rise and swell into the air. 780 00:55:30,911 --> 00:55:34,199 He starts growing to his full, majestic height 781 00:55:34,331 --> 00:55:36,822 as he catches his first deep breath. 782 00:55:38,001 --> 00:55:41,243 The strong baling rings slipping along the great poles, 783 00:55:41,380 --> 00:55:45,214 until at last they reach to the flags flying from the peak. 784 00:55:46,760 --> 00:55:51,254 And as the big top rises in each town, new risks are taken. 785 00:55:52,099 --> 00:55:54,431 Caution is thrown to the winds 786 00:55:54,560 --> 00:55:57,017 in this battle for the center ring. 787 00:55:57,396 --> 00:56:00,934 99, 56, 57, 58, 788 00:56:01,066 --> 00:56:05,150 59, 60, 61, 789 00:56:05,279 --> 00:56:09,318 62, 63, 64, 790 00:56:09,449 --> 00:56:13,317 65, 66, 67, 791 00:56:13,453 --> 00:56:16,069 68, 69... 792 00:56:16,999 --> 00:56:19,866 I warned her not to do Jenny's act on that rigging. 793 00:56:20,002 --> 00:56:23,085 Yeah. I was there the night Jenny got killed. 794 00:56:23,