The Kremos: Double Perilous Jumps

In a sunny open air setting with a background of high, deep foliage trees, and a white-walled storeyed house, an acrobat with light shirt and trousers and white plimsolls is doing acrobats in a trapeze in the center of the area. Behind it, a pair of men in similar dress seem to be carrying barbells from one place to the other, rather then exercising with them.

This Pete Smith Specialty showcases the Cristiani Family, a circus act. They mount and dismount moving horses and perform acrobatic feats while riding them.

A young girl has already seen everything there is to see and her world has lost all meaning. Her anger shatters her world and she finds herself in the universe of QUIDAM, where she is joined by a playful companion, as well as another mysterious character who attempts to seduce her with the marvelous, the unsettling and the terrifying.

Drawing upon a vast and richly visual archive and featuring a host of performers, historians and aficionados, this four-hour mini-series follows the rise and fall of the gigantic, traveling tented railroad circus and brings to life an era when Circus Day would shut down a town and its stars were among the most famous people in the country.

King of the slack wire. His daring feats of balancing as he performs his thrilling feats in midair show that he is perfectly at home.

The famous acrobats in the above title appear in a marvellous acrobatic act. There are three barrels arranged on the stage. The boys, blindfolded, stand on opposite sides of the stage, and jump from one barrel into the other until they both land in the same barrel at the same time. They then jump backwards onto the stage over the two barrels. One table is then mounted upon another and the center barrel is placed on top. The brothers still blindfolded jump one each into a barrel and from them to the first to the second table and from the second table into the barrel on top of the second table. They then jump backwards onto the stage. This is pronounced by show people to be the most marvellous acrobatic feat that has ever been introduced. (Edison Catalog)

Part of the Wintergartenprogramm.

Eight circus performers known as the Grunato family perform their famous balancing act.

Luis Martinetti, a contortionist suspended from acrobatic flying rings, contorts himself for about thirty seconds. This is one of the first films made for Edison's kinetoscopes.

A preadolescent boy, dressed like a street urchin, performs acrobatic stunts for the camera.

Considered a remake of Lumière's La Voltige from 1895.

One of the most fascinating exhibits on the Midway at the Pan-American Exposition is the Japanese Village. This space occupies about one and one-half acres of ground. It is dotted with pretty miniature lakes, the famous Japanese circle bridges, groves, tea houses, etc. We secured an excellent picture of this village while a troupe of Japanese acrobats were performing. The acrobats themselves are in the foreground of the picture and form the principal feature. The entire length of the film is replete with difficult acrobatic tricks, performed by one of the most skilled troupes in the world. (Edison Catalog)

Live from the Smoky Mountain Palace in Pigeon Forge, TN Now in its fourth season, Cirque de Chine continues to mesmerize audiences with strength, skill, grace, romance, and illusion! It is fantasy, danger, and playful all in one! Cirque de Chine presents the best acrobatic troops from China in a fast-paced and, at times breathtaking show. High-flying action, ballet inspired performances, and five flying motorcyclists in a 26-foot steel ball represent a few of the many different acts you will see on this incredible DVD.

And here is an early success as he puts the viewer in the mood of a little boy, playing with his toys, running them through the paces of his little circus.

La symphonie du hanneton

A haunted theatre, filled with the vengeful spirits of a tragically-trapped performance troupe murdered in a fire 13 years ago, waits for the once-grand palatial playhouse to re-open with a new show - and bring in new victims.

The scene is set at Billy Rose's Casa Manana Revue, filmed at the Fort Worth Frontier Fiesta (1937), an enormous production created as part of the Texas Centennial civic celebrations. The opening song, "The Night Is Young And You're So Beautiful" emanated from the first edition of the Revue and became a hit song on two continents in 1936.

The Chinese consider the lion a symbol of good luck, so it's a half-dragon, half-lion – a dralion – that is the symbol of the East-meets-West fusion of this performance in which 36 Chinese acrobats join the renowned Canadian troupe. Celebrating the four elements as represented in four colours – blue (air), green (water), red (fire) and ochre (earth) – Dralion combines ancient Chinese circus traditions with Cirque du Soleil's usual stunning elements: the techno-oriented single ring; the multicoloured lights and costumes; the music that mixes rock, New Age and various world influences (though not Chinese); and the madcap clowns that pull a victim out of the audience.

Two athletic spider women quarrel over one tasty man. Can he escape?

Red-tinted 9,5 mm Baby-Pathé version (1923) of a devilish contortionist short starring Fred Sato (1910/1911).