Burt Lancaster portrays PT Barnum, directly addressing the audience to recount the story of the showman, writer, and politician who passed away just months before reaching 81 years old in 1891. The man is recognized as a leading figure in entertainment history, a skilled marketer and salesperson. He began his career in show business at age 25 in New York City after acquiring a slave woman who was supposedly George Washington's former nurse; she claimed to be 161 years old. She died the following year, and an autopsy revealed that she was actually around 80 years of age. He subsequently purchased a museum on Broadway, attracting visitors with exhibits including stuffed animals, live performances, and unusual items like the "Feejee" mermaid and General Tom Thumb. Barnum took the little performer on tour through Europe in 1844-1845 where he learned about the renowned Swedish soprano Jenny Lind (played by Hanna Schygulla), which led to securing her for a costly American tour from 1850 to 1852. The showman didn’t introduce the first traveling circus using trains and canvas tents until he was 60 years old in 1870, naming it "PT Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome." All of this, along with other details, is presented effectively, but viewers shouldn’t anticipate elements typically associated with circuses, as seen in films like “Water for Elephants,” “The Greatest Show on Earth,” “The Big Circus,” “Roustabout,” “Circus of Horrors,” “Trapeze” and "Circus of Fear," also known as "Psycho-Circus." Those movies are set a century after the events depicted here. Essentially, “Barnum” laid the groundwork for traveling circuses in the 1900s. However, there’s some familiar circus imagery, like during Lancaster's walk around the grounds where he breaks the fourth wall and at the very end of the film. It is emphasized in the movie that Barnum did not originate the saying “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Evidence suggests the phrase likely belongs to David Hannum, a Syracuse banker who profited from selling the "Cardiff Giant" in 1869 through admission fees. Barnum wanted to purchase it but Hannum refused, so he created a replica and publicized Hannum's giant as a fake. When Barnum’s display proved more popular, it is said that Hannum remarked “There’s a sucker born every minute.” This film shouldn’t be mistaken for another television production, the British musical "Barnum!," which premiered the same year but four weeks later and clearly had a smaller budget. The movie has a runtime of 1 hour, 40 minutes (some listings state 1 hour, 30 minutes) and was filmed in Montreal. GRADE: B-

Source on TMDB