P.T. Barnum

## The Greatest Showman

Real life P. T. Barnum taken 1851.

**Phineas Taylor Barnum**was an American politician, showman, and businessman who founded the Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is portrayed by Hugh Jackman in the film, *The Greatest Showman,*which is based around Barnum's story of how he created the Barnum & Bailey Circus, and he didn't make it work when his circus caught on fire.

## Background

P.T Barnum is an ambitious, hopeful man. Throughout the movie, he is seen to be wanting more for his family (Charity, Caroline, and Helen), more for himself, and more for his show (when it is finally put together).

### Personality

Having grown up having nothing, Barnum soon becomes hooked on greed, power and money as his museum/circus begins bringing in large audiences. He begins to look for alternative options to make more money and make him more successful, eventually attaching his name to the 'Swedish nightingale' Jenny Lind.

He appears to want to establish himself in the public as a household name and attempts to do this through every chance.

### Physical Appearance

Barnum is a handsome middle aged man at the time of the events in the film. As a child, Barnum was unfortunate enough to only wear hand-me-down scrubby, falling apart, clothes due to his social status being poor.

Upon returning from working on the railway, Barnum wears more middle class clothes. He has grown into a charming young man, with brown hair.

Throughout the film, as Barnum becomes more and more successful, his clothing represents this. He wears more tailored suits, a top hat and bright colours.

### Abilities

Barnum appears to be a charmer, managing to hire most of the troupe, and weave his way through obtaining more money.

## In History

Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut on July 5, 1810. At the age of 19, he married his wife, Charity Hallett and was striving as a businessman, having owned/run a general store, a book auctioning trade, real estate speculation, and a statewide lottery network.

In 1829, Barnum started a weekly paper, *The Herald of Freedom*; the editorials he wrote for this newspaper led to his being imprisoned for two months. After his release, he became a champion of the liberal movement. He was a part of the Democratic Party from 1824-1854. In 1854, he joined the newly-founded anti-slavery Republican Party. He served two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for Fairfield.

## Appearance

### *The Greatest Showman*

As a child, Barnum assists his father in his tailoring business, fixing and mending suits for the wealthy. On one of the business calls, Barnum finds himself and his father at the Hallett estate, where their young daughter, Charity, is being taught correct tea-drinking etiquette. Barnum makes Charity laugh, but her father, Mr. Hallett, slaps Barnum across the face for his insolence.

The two children become clandestine friends, traveling to the beach and exploring grown-over mansions together, and eventually developing feelings for one another (A Million Dreams). Mr. Hallett disapproves of the friendship and denigrates Barnum due to his low social status. Although Charity is sent to boarding school, she and Barnum continue their romantic friendship by writing letters to each other.

To find a steady job and get himself off the street, Barnum joins a railroad construction crew. Upon completion of the railroad, Barnum has become a man. He arrives at the Hallett estate to take Charity away. With her bags packed and to her father's disappointment, Charity elopes with Barnum and the two begin their lives together (A Million Dreams (Reprise)). Barnum is let go from his job at a shipping company after the company's boats sink to the bottom of the South China Sea. He returns home to his wife and two young daughters to find them playing on the roof. Barnum is disappointed that he hasn't created the life he wanted for Charity. After creating a birthday present out of a candle and a metal pen tin, Barnum is inspired to create the Barnum Museum.

Barnum goes to the bank for a loan when he sees a small male dwarf, Charles Stratton. After taking a loan from the bank, using the shipping company as collateral, Barnum opens the Barnum Museum. Its main attractions are wax figures of famous people and animals. Barnum comes up with many ideas for his "museum" of wax figures, excitedly showing his family when he purchases it, but they don't express much enthusiasm for the idea, especially Charity. Ticket sales are poor, leaving Barnum looking for a way to make the museum come alive.

Talking to his daughters as he tucks them into bed, Barnum realizes the museum needs things that people have never seen before like a "mermaid" and a "unicorn." Sitting down at his desk, Barnum notices an apple like the one he was offered as a child by a woman with a facial deformity. It sparks the idea of putting people with unique physical traits on stage to perform. Barnum goes on a search for 'freaks', placing flyers up around New York City. While hanging flyers he hears the beautiful voice of Lettie Lutz, a bearded woman who is working at a laundromat. Barnum also visits Charles Stratton, asking him to join the show. Stratton is cynical and hesitant at first, but Barnum eventually persuades him.

After holding auditions for other acts, Barnum sings 'Come Alive' and by the end of the song the circus is performing. With his newfound success Barnum becomes trapped in the world he created. Now that Barnum has money, he purchases the mansion that Charity and he used to play in as children to finally give her the life he dreamed of. Wanting to attract an audience of a higher class, Barnum seeks out Phillip Carlyle, a wealthy playwright and producer, to join his show. The two discuss the opportunity at a bar (The Other Side), with Barnum slickly persuading Carlyle to work with him in exchange for a 10% cut of the profits.

Thanks to Carlyle's connections and business tactics, Barnum receives an invitation from Queen Victoria for himself and his troupe to perform in England. He accepts, and he soon arrives in England and is welcomed into Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen. While in England, Barnum is introduced by Carlyle to the 'Swedish nightingale' Jenny Lind, a well-established opera singer. Having only heard of her reputation, Barnum invites Lind to the United States to complete a tour of the country, promising to make her the most well-known singer in the world. Upon returning to New York, Barnum welcomes a large audience into a theatre to listen to Lind sing (Never Enough).

Before Barnum can introduce Lind, the group of circus performers arrives. Suddenly embarrassed by them, Barnum tells them to wait in the standing room area to watch the performance. While introducing Jenny Lind, Barnum points out that this act is not like the novelty acts the audience has seen prior, but instead something truly remarkable. Barnum is stunned and mesmerised by Jenny Lind's beautiful voice, momentarily seeing nothing but her. When the performance ends, Barnum witnesses the audience give her a standing ovation. He is further vindicated by seeing acerbic theatre critic James Gordon Bennett enjoying the performance.

At the show's after party, Barnum introduces Charity and his two daughters to Jenny Lind. In the meantime, Charity's parents have entered the room. Barnum sees the Halletts and becomes quite hostile, pointing out to them that they have made no effort to meet their granddaughters. Barnum also brags about his success to Mr. Hallett, who has always doubted him. Barnum is offended when Mr. Hallett calls him nothing but a 'tailor's boy,' and asks him to get out. Charity is unimpressed with Barnum's behavior, and she and the girls leave. As his family leaves, Lind proposes a toast to Barnum and his success. When the toast concludes, Barnum hears Lettie Lutz and the other performers about to enter the room. He stops them, closing the door in their faces rather than welcoming them to the party.

The performers are angry at being left out of the party, treated as unworthy and otherwise being snubbed. They rally under the fiery response of Lettie Lutz (This Is Me).

After the success of the show, Barnum arranges for Lind to tour the US and make more money. Barnum takes money from his wife's savings to use as collateral for the bank without asking her first, but he is certain he will turn a profit from the tour. Barnum leaves on tour with Lind, neglecting to say goodbye to the circus performers.

While on tour, Barnum and Lind become quite close, with Lind eventually falling in love with him. In between one of the shows, Lind leans in to kiss Barnum, but Barnum rejects the kiss. Lind, humiliated by her inaccurate reading of the situation, ultimately decides to discontinue the tour. During her final show, Barnum watches Lind perform 'Never Enough (Reprise)'. When he goes out to take a bow, Lind kisses him and a newspaper reporter takes a picture, starting Barnum's downfall.

Barnum returns to New York where he is greeted by the sirens of the fire brigade racing towards the circus building. He arrives at the building to find it in flames. He ensures everyone is out of the building, but Carlyle runs back in to look for trapeze artist Anne Wheeler, with whom he has fallen in love. Barnum runs in after Carlyle and saves him before the building fully collapses. After the fire has been put out, Barnum sits on the steps of the old museum in defeat. Bennett finds him, takes a seat next to him and tells Barnum that while he (Bennett) didn't particularly enjoy the show, the people certainly did. He might even have called it a celebration of mankind.

Meanwhile, Charity has seen the photo of Barnum and Lind kissing in the paper. She takes the girls and leaves him, having also realised that he took her money. With nothing left of his circus, Barnum retreats to a pub where he drinks his sorrows away. Charles finds him, climbs up onto the bar and takes a seat on Barnum's top hat. He is followed by the rest of the circus performers, who enter the bar and convince Barnum that family is more important than money (From Now On).

Barnum returns to the Hallett estate to find Charity and his girls. After one of his daughters tells him Charity is at the beach, Barnum knows where to find her -- in the same spot where they met growing up. Charity forgives Barnum and takes him back. Barnum, with assistance and funding from Carlyle, rebuilds the circus, this time under a movable tent, continuing his showmanship and drawing in large crowds. This time there are live elephants, lions and a wider range of circus acts. Eventually Barnum retires and promotes Carlyle as the new ringmaster.

In the final scenes, Barnum watches his daughter in a ballet performance. He sits in the audience with his wife and is reminded about the importance of family.

## Quotes

P.T. Barnum : [from trailer]  No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.

Phillip Carlyle : They come to see you... \*Your\* crazy ideas, \*your\* new acts. The unusual...

P.T. Barnum : Well then how about you show them a smile? That'd be unusual.

P.T. Barnum : Hyperbole isn't the worst crime. Men suffer more from imagining too little than too much.

P.T. Barnum : Trust me, they don't know it yet, but they're going to love you.

P.T. Barnum : P. T. Barnum, at your service.

[shakes Tom's hand, then gets down on his knee to his height]

P.T. Barnum : I am putting together a show, and I need a star.

Tom Thumb : You want people to laugh at me.

P.T. Barnum : [smiling]  Well they're laughing anyway, kid, so you might as well get paid.

P.T. Barnum : Hey sweetie, who's that young man over there?

Charity Barnum : Oh that's Phillip Carlyle. A bit of a scandal, they say. His last play was a hit in London.

P.T. Barnum : Play? Pay good money to watch people stand around and talk for two hours and they call me a conman.

James Gordon Bennett : Tell me, Mr. Barnum, does it bother you that everything you're selling is fake?

P.T. Barnum : Do these smiles seem fake? It doesn't matter where they come from. The joy is real.

James Gordon Bennett : So you are a philanthropist?

P.T. Barnum : Well, hyperbole isn't the worst crime. Men suffer more from imagining too little than too much.

James Gordon Bennett : The creed of a true fraud.

P.T. Barnum : Mr Bennett, when was the last time you smiled? Or had a good laugh? A real laugh. A theater critic who can't find joy in the theater. Now who is the fraud?

P.T. Barnum : I can't fool the bank into loaning me more money, so... I'm really sorry to disappoint you all.

Tom Thumb : Don't worry, Barnum. We've gotten used to it by now.

P.T. Barnum : My father was treated like dirt. I was treated like dirt. My children won't be.

Charity Barnum : Don't tell me bought this house just to rub my parents' noses in your success.

P.T. Barnum : Well, that wasn't the only reason. This is the life I promised you.

P.T. Barnum : I've brought hardship on you and on our family. You warned me. I wouldn't listen. I just... I wanted to be more than I was.

Charity Barnum : I never wanted anything but the man I fell in love with.

P.T. Barnum : [Sung]  And let this promise/in me start/like an anthem in my heart/

Charity Barnum : However big/however small

P.T. Barnum : From now on... from now on

P.T. Barnum : Nothing happened!

Charity Barnum : Oh, nothing happened... it's on the front of every paper in New York.

P.T. Barnum : That's because she orchestrated the photo. I'm not in love with her!

Charity Barnum : Of course you're not. Not with her, not with me, not with anybody. Just you and your show.

P.T. Barnum : Nothing draws a crowd quite like a crowd.