Cecil B. DeMilles The Greatest Show on Earth Holly vs. The Great Sebastian scene The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 American drama film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille,shot in Technicolor, and released by Paramount Pictures. Set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the film stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde as trapeze artists competing for the center ring, and Charlton Heston as the circus manager running the show. James Stewart also stars in a supporting role as a mys