Cecil B. DeMille’s circus picture The Greatest Show On Earth wasn’t just released in the first half of 1952. Paramount premièred it on January 10 in New York, leaving it plenty of time to be forgotten come Oscar season. (It opened in L.A. the following month and rolled out to the rest of the country that May.) With all that time in theaters, The Greatest Show On Earth became the highest-grossing film of the year at a time when it was common for Best Picture winners to rule the box office as well. Adjusted for inflation, it stands today in the top 60 domestically highest-grossing movies ever, above Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge Of The Sith and The Passion Of The Christ. After winning Golden Globes for picture, director, and cinematography, the movie only received five Oscar nominations. Rivals The Quiet Man and Moulin Rouge tied at seven each, but DeMille went home with best picture, anyway. When it comes to Oscars, bigger is sometimes better.
