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The Big Carnival

Before the 24-hour coverage of the OJ Simpson trial, before the immediate media speculation of the Oklahoma City Bombing and before the paparazzi infested Kobe Bryant case, there was the original media circus, the one surrounding Floyd Collins.
Loosely based on Collins’ 1925 cave-in accident, Billy Wilder’s (Sunset Boulevard, The Seven Year) The Big Carnival contains many of the historical facts surrounding the incident, but its merciless slant is Wilder’s own. Collins, the owner of the Crystal cave in central Kentucky, was trapped inside after a landslide. Due to the Louisville Courier–Journal reporter who shaped and molded the rescue operations, all the while making sure to cover every detail of the story, Collins’ misfortune soon became America’s entertainment. The story gripped the nation for several weeks before, and immediately after, it’s tragic end.
In The Big Carnival, Kirk Douglas plays Charles Tatum, a cynical big-city newsman who shows up in Albuq...

Posted by: Anthony Pacella

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