Man on a Tightrope is a 1953 American drama directed by Elia Kazan, starring Fredric March, Terry Moore and Gloria Grahame. The screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood was based on a 1952 novel of the same title by Neil Paterson. Paterson based his true story, which first appeared as the magazine novelette International Incident, on the escape of the Circus Brumbach from East Germany in 1950. Members of the Circus Brumbach appeared in the film version in both character roles and as extras. The film was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival.

Plot

In 1952 Czechoslovakia, circus man Karel Černík struggles to keep his beloved Cirkus Černík together, which belonged to his family before being nationalized by the Communist government. The government allows Černík to manage the circus, but he grapples with its deteriorating conditions, loss of his workers to the state, tension with his willful daughter Tereza, and his young second wife Zama, whom everyone suspects of being unfaithful. Černík wants to end a budding romance between Tereza and roustabout Joe Vosdek, who has been with the circus for only a year.