description The Show Overview
The Show is a 1927 American silent drama directed by Tod Browning for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring John Gilbert, Renee Adoree, and Lionel Barrymore. Adapted from Charles Tenney Jackson's novel The Day of Souls, it is set in a Budapest sideshow where staged illusions, romantic jealousy, criminal schemes, and deception intersect. Its carnival setting and interest in performers living at society's margins connect it with recurring subjects in Browning's silent and early sound films.
help The Show FAQ
Where is The Show set?
The 1927 silent drama is set in a Budapest sideshow called the Palace of Illusions. John Gilbert plays Cock Robin, a barker and performer caught between Salome and the violent Greek.
What book inspired The Show?
The film was loosely adapted from Charles Tenney Jackson's 1910 novel The Day of Souls. Tod Browning reshaped that material around a theatrical sideshow and its backstage deceptions.
Who stars in The Show?
John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, and Lionel Barrymore lead the cast. Tod Browning directed the film for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1927.
What kind of illusions appear in The Show?
The sideshow includes a staged beheading of Jokanaan, played as John the Baptist, along with Neptuna the mermaid, Zela the half-lady, and Arachnida the human spider. The film also exposes the mechanical tricks behind some of its attractions.
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