Trapeze

Ladies and gentlemen - Mike Ribble, the only man alive today to attempt a triple.

Three complete somersaults before reaching the arms of his catcher.

Halt! Halt!

You see, Achille, here I am 46 years old, and suddenly I start to grow.

Before, the lowest bar on the lion's cage was two inches above my head.

- Now it is only one. - Maybe they shifted the bar.

- You know a fella named Mike Ribble? - No.

- Ce n'est pas si mal que ça, monsieur. - Ou sont les gueules?

- Vous voulez des tigres? - Et mon nom?

"Monsieur Bouglione".

Chaque année, il est de plus en plus minuscule. Refaites-moi cette affiche.

Monsieur Bouglione, you like? Beautiful, yes? By opening night, magnificent. I...

- What they do, I see. What do you do? - Me? I show you.

Hey-hup!

Hey-hup!

Hup!

Alley-oop!

- Parlez Anglais? - Yeah.

- Do you know Mike Ribble? - Never heard of him.

Want a snake act? Three of the sweetest performers that ever circled a torso.

- He's got the build for it, hasn't he? - He don't look like a snake lover.

- Anybody know Mike Ribble? - Say hello to the gentleman.

American. A great flier. You know, the trapeze.

- He's got a job here. - I knew a man named Gribble.

Did an act with a python of uncertain temper and extraordinary big jaws.

- Who are you? - Tino Orsini.

- Guido Orsini your father? - Yeah.

- Cheap due to unforeseen circumstances. - That's Ribble.

Above the plane, tightening the rigging.

Baby, wake up. She's a bit sluggish since her dinner last week.

Mr Ribble! Say, Mr Ribble!

You! In my circus, when I put together a show I have silence.

- I just wanna see Mr Ribble. - See him on his time, not mine.

- Monsieur, you said you'd find a buyer. - I find no buyer.

Everybody knows the snake killed your brother.

She's high-spirited, that's all. If she's warm it's safe. My brother let her get cold.

If you did not already have a snake act, would you buy a snake act?

Now watch. Off the bars, a double forward twist.

- We do business, monsieur? - I see these boys work before.

- Where'd they find you? - They're lucky, no?

- Where you find her? - We don't find her. She finds us.

Well?

I pay you what you got before, and I check what you got before.

But the Cirque d'Hiver is more important than where we were.

The Cirque d'Hiver, yes. Your act, no.

- Look, I take the act as it is. - All right.

Same pay.

Ah...

- He likes us? - What did he say?

Come on, say it.

- What's the matter, Lola? - Whatever he said, say it.

Come on. Speak, Lola.

- Bouglione... - Yeah?

- He will not buy the act as it is. - Why?

- He wants me to do more. - More for you? Already there is too much!

I do not say it's my idea that I do more. It's Bouglione. He insist.

Otherwise, we don't work.

You're always trying to do more. It's our act.

Ali, if you feel this way about me, I will leave the act.

Oh, shut up.

Mr Ribble? Hey, Mr Ribble?

Hey, get down out of there before you fall down.

- But I'm a flier. - I don't care what you are. Get down.

I came all the way from Brooklyn to see you. My old man is Guido Orsini.

That buzzard still flyin'?

He taught me all he knew. You're the only man who can teach me more.

Tell him I'm not a coach. I'm a rigger. And tell him in person, back in Brooklyn.

- Look, Mr Ribble... - Go on, beat it, son. I'm busy.

I want something only you can give me.

You're the only man in the world that can teach me the triple.

The triple? Are you crazy? Don't you know why I'm a rigger?

I throw a double somersault. I need a little help on the third.

- Just a little help on the third, huh? - I know it's not easy...

You come out of that third somersault like an express train. And you come out blind.

A split second to reach for your catcher, and a split second for him to grab you.

- That's all there is to it. - All I want...

How many wet-eared kids have come to me tryin' to suck me back in?

But you top 'em all. You wanna do a triple.

All I ask is one look. If you don't think I got it, I'll go back to Brooklyn.

Well, start packin'.

How am I doing?

How about this?

You tryin' to leave your fingerprints on the bar? Grip it lightly.

Get your hands closer together. They're too far apart.

Closer still. Shoulder width.

When you do a roll over the bar that way, shoot way up in the air.

You know, I modelled my style after yours.

Then you'll always be a second-rater. Make your own style.

You don't force out high enough.

You'll never reach your catcher unless you kick for the ceiling. Watch my swing.

There. This is where your catcher would be for any big trick.

Here I come. Catch me!

- You fool! Without a net? - Who needs a net?

- I should have dropped you on your head. - But you didn't.

You! I told you before, get down.

A dead flier becomes a live catcher.

You've got great hands. Be a catcher. Catch me.

I'm no catcher, not for you or anybody else.

Come back in the business. We'll make a team.

The only act to do a triple - Ribble and Orsini.

You want my advice? Well, here it is. Fly back to Brooklyn while you can still fly.

From flier to rigger in one accident. New York to Paris. He's fallen a long way.

- He's not smashed up as bad as I heard. - It's his heart that's smashed.

He used to be a flier. Now he can't even get on the pedestal.

What good is life to a bird if he can't fly? You can understand.

Sure I can. Mr Bouglione? How'd you like my act?

- What act? - Ribble and Orsini.

You come here, do two flips on the bar, make one pass, right away you got an act.

Congratulations. One of you runs before he can walk, the other a cripple.

Ribble wants to work with me. Are you interested or do I go somewhere else?

I'm interested, but I know this man better than you do. Remember, I warned you.

- You still here? Up all night, huh? - Look, Mr Ribble...

That's why there are no more performers. Nobody trains.

That's the lousiest full twist...

Look what you did.

Mr Ribble?

How about this?

It's not like workin' with my own bars, but tell me what you think anyway.

Hands close enough together, Mr Ribble?

What do you think, Mr Ribble?

- How's that, Mr Ribble? - Lousy.

Mike?

- Who is it? - Mike, it is Rosa.

Rosa!

Where'd you come from? I thought you were in Australia.

And Africa. Three years. I am back, Mike.

We are opening here. What are you doing now?

- Come here, let's have a look at you. - Rosa!

- You want my horses to catch a cold? - Well, if it ain't old Chikki.

The horses first, always the horses, eh, Chikki?

I thought you were dead. She's Mrs Chikki Fauchon now. I married her last year.

Well, congratulations. You're a lucky man.

You should know.

Rosa, come on. Come on, Rosa!

Lady? Oh, lady, excuse me.

Would you do me a favour? Can I talk to you? You seem to know Mr Ribble...

Hey, rigger, come here. We want to talk to you.

- Have a drink? - What? Yeah, sure. Bottle of beer.

We make some changes in the act. The rigging will have to be different.

We need a third bar and another set of wires eight feet from the centre bar.

I want the apron extended another four feet.

And the platform should be dropped six inches.

Of course, the tension will have to be checked for my takeoff.

I'd like it to be ready first thing in the morning, so if you'll get to it...

- Did you hear what I said? - Sure.

You said the spotlight will be on you when you do a flyaway at the finish.

Oh, shut up. Shut up!

- Is there something better to put it on? - That depends. What are you selling?

- Hey, there's a picture of you. - Don't just stand there. Order something.

- Beer. - Make it two.

Clark, Segrist, Concello, Codona, Amadori and... and Ribble.

The only six men in the world that ever threw a triple.

There'll never be a seventh. When circus was real, flying was a religion.

Now what have you got? Pink lights, ballet girls, blue sawdust. A lot of hoopla.

You'll never throw a triple. You know why? Because you drink too much.

...so after I got 'em, I thought about the snakeskin-shoe business.

But how many pairs of shoes can you get from a trio of pythons?

- Are you happy with Chikki? - I'm not unhappy. Eat the soup.

- Stop mothering me. - Why? Isn't that what all loves come to?

Mike, why don't you shave at least every other day?

Shave, eat... I'm getting a regular life since you came back.

That boy. Is he trapeze?

He wants to be a flier.

Has he talent?

Could be great. Just great.

You know, Mike, I often wondered why you never became a catcher.

When did you start wondering? About three minutes ago?

You got to learn to tumble, my boy. Like me.

Mike, you like that boy. Team up with him. Catch him. Nobody can do it better.

Before he becomes this great catcher he might change the rigging for my act.

- Don't let your partners hear it's your act. - You said he could be great.

He could be the seventh man in the world to do a triple.

Oh, Mike, Mike...

You spent years on the triple. Look what it did to you!

Now you can have a good flying act without it. Don't let the triple kill it.

- It's in him. Why shouldn't he do it? - For what?

To pull a shoulder? Break his back?

I'll show him what I did wrong. We'll be the greatest in the business.

- For how long? - You want him to swing on a single bar?

Not with that kind of talent. I'd rather see him cutting hair in a barber's shop.

Now, tomorrow we'll...

Now, tomorrow you'll get down to business. You'll do no more drinkin'.

Watch. The man that photographed my fall was your best friend.

He can keep you from making the same mistake.

I'm breaking from the bar too late. First somersault OK. Second OK.

Third somersault - short.

That's the boner that cost me the triple. Not big, but fatal.

So we'll start at the beginning and make each move perfect before we try the next.

I'll run it again for you.

Take a natural set now. That's it. Hold it, hold it. Break! Break full!

Keep your head up. Don't bend those legs. What are they made of, rubber?

That's it. Down the hill. Right, back up. Now hold it. Now break!

Go.

Hold it. Hold it. Now take a natural set. Natural.

Good. Great!

No!

No, no, no! Too late. Too late.

You'll bust your neck. It always happens when you break too late. Let's try it again.

Hit it.

You got to learn to miss a trick as well as catch it.