A man is listening to music when he hears yelling from downstairs, he runs downstairs to see a toy monkey, then a second version of himself dies
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.
An insoluble quest.
Twenty-three years after scoring the winning touchdown for his college football team mild-mannered Harold Diddlebock, who has been stuck in a dull, dead-end book-keeping job for years, is let go by his pompous boss, advertising tycoon J.E. Wagglebury, with nothing but a tiny pension. Harold, who never touches the stuff, takes a stiff drink with his new pal... and another, and another. What happened Wednesday?
A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
A misunderstood and isolated transgender teenager takes revenge upon his unaccepting parents. A powerful supernatural entity known as the Bug God contacts him to help him do the deed. A mysterious organization produces a largely fictitious made-for-TV docudrama on the subject.
José, a street performer who dreams about becoming a telenovela star, is recruited by a talent manager who promises him great success, but soon realizes the job is actually dancing in a gay strip club. Away from his home and enjoying the newfound fame he has acquired with his new job in the city, José starts wondering if turning his back on his family and himself is worth it now that he's the club's biggest star, nicknamed "El Pistolero."
A man who has a body almost completely covered in tattoos is searching for the woman who cursed him with the "skin illustrations". Each tattoo reveals a bizarre story, which is experienced by staring at the scene depicted. When the illustrated man meets a fellow tramp on the road a strange voyage begins.
A writer reminisces on the fallout between her and her best friend
On a desolate farm, a couple's prayers are answered after a visitor offers them a sinister deal. Blinded by their joy, they struggle to realize that what they once desired may lead to their own unraveling.
Seven men, after getting acquainted in prison and finding out that all of their lives have been affected by the same con man, decide to raid the fraudster's life savings.
Unemployed and broke, Michael’s seemingly useless efforts to find employment lead him to discovering inner peace and the value of perseverance.
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.
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.
A despairing clown suffering a broken heart and a self-indulgent count who uncontrollably laughs learn to help each other with their problems, but both fall in love with the same young woman.
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.
Adaptation of a Kafka short story, believed lost for more than 60 years.
Fields plays "Larsen E. Whipsnade", the owner of a shady carnival that is constantly on the run from the law. Whipsnade is struggling to keep a step ahead of foreclosure, and clearly not paying his performers, including Bergen and McCarthy, who try to coax money out of him, or in McCarthy's case, steal some outright.
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.
A quadriplegic man is given a trained monkey help him with every day activities, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master and those who get too close to him.