United States

Glenn Ford brings his own special magic to this colourful circus adventure

Glenn Ford stars as Punch Travers, an executive dropout who has achieved a boyhood dream by joining a small, struggling travelling circus as a roustabout. Widow Lillian Charney (Ruth Roman), the owner-operator of the circus, soon makes him manager, which means he becomes book-keeper, ticket-taker, canvas boss, advance man, East Indian knife-thrower, elephant trainer and clown.
One night 15 years after leaving his wife and the rat-race, he discovers that not only is his wife dead, but that he has a teenage daughter Jody (Pam Griffin) who intends to spend her vacations with him.
Amid the colour, drama and spectacle of the Big Top, the free-spirited Punch and the finishing-school raised Jody spend their first week together.
Jody is at once thrilled by the fun and excitement of the circus life and yet appalled by the conditions in which her father and the circus folk live. Meanwhile, Punch soon discovers that instant parenthood and getting a circus on the road do not mix.