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.
Acting
Helen Twelvetrees sells heartbreak while dangling from ropes.
Production
Actual circus footage and stunt work impresses for 1930.
Director
Joseph Santley
Helen Twelvetrees
Maryan
Fred Scott
Garry
Dorothy Burgess
Trixie
John Sheehan
Doc May
Daphne Pollard
Mrs. May
George Fawcett
Pop Garner
Bryant Washburn
Ringmaster Joe
Bryant Washburn
Billy
Sally Starr
Ruth
'Little Billy' Rhodes
Major Tiny
William Hall
Babe
Stepin Fetchit
Sam
Chester Conklin
Sheriff
Ben Turpin
Bartender
Robert Edeson
Doctor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Fred Scott's rare dramatic lead before he pivoted to singing cowboy B-pictures. The 'sixteen all-stars' billing was pure marketing fiction.
Shot during the brief 1929-1934 Pre-Code window, this film got away with sexual blackmail and drunken debauchery that the Hays Code would soon ban. The trapeze-as-weapon climax is peak pre-Code feminine agency.
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