Con Colleano home movie: circus preparations

Australian-born and world-famous tightrope circus artist Con Colleano (Cornelius Sullivan, 1899 –1973) features in this home movie of informal Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Combined Circus 'backyard' scenes.

The segment begins with footage of Con rehearsing his famous cape dance. The crew unload circus equipment on the lot, and a menagerie of circus animals and performers prepares for the grand parade.

Performers enter and leave the big top during the performance. A clown hangs up clothing on a line. Con is seen dressed in a dapper, pin-striped suit, smoking a cigarette near a circus wagon. A young girl holding a doll smiles for the camera. Circus boss John Ringling visits the show.

Con performs another cape dance in full costume and is joined by his wife, 'Big' Winnie. The final shot is of Con’s sister, 'Little Winnie', with her hair in ringlets, and some fellow female performers.

Con was inducted into the Circus Hall of Fame, Sarasota, Florida in 1966. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the first person ever successfully to attempt a forward somersault on a low-wire tightrope.

The location of this footage is uncertain; however, shots of ‘The Alamo’ appear on the same film reel, so it is possibly in San Antonio, Texas.