Circus (1975)

A daring theft of valuable paintings from a manor house coincides with the arrival in the district of a travelling circus. The thieves gained access to the property via the roof and were able to evade the alarm system by use of trapeze equipment. Vincente Orlando, internationally-acclaimed trapeze artist, arrives at the circus to join his sister Anna, who is married to the Gerry Deacon, the owner, and perform for them during the coming season when the circus is booked for dates in France. Gerry, who is less than pleased to have Vincente around, disappears soon afterwards, and Anna refuses to say where he has gone. The circus will continue running as usual, she insists. However, Vincente, along with Gerry's children Maria and Julius, as well as their friend Dominic (a young clown), turn detective and eventually learn that Gerry was being coerced by a man named Harry Auld into helping to smuggle the stolen paintings into France. Although struggling to make ends meet, Gerry refused to be involved and was kidnapped by Auld and his henchman Bates, whilst Anna was threatened with never seeing Gerry alive again if she told anyone or if she refused to cooperate. As Vincente investigates, mysterious 'accidents' begin to occur including his trapeze snapping during one of his performances, and it becomes apparent that someone inside the circus is working with Auld and Bates to ensure that everything goes to plan. But who can it be? Galina, the glamorous pistol shooter? El Hakim, the surly fire eater? Sam Rudge, the reclusive clown? Peter the Ringmaster, once Gerry's employer and now reduced to being his employee? Could it even be Jim who feeds the lions? Vincente and his young colleagues find themselves in a race against time to locate and rescue Gerry before the circus moves on and before one or all of them meet with a fatal 'accident'.