"Narrator: [first lines] We bring you the circus, pied piper whose magic tunes greet children of all ages, from six to 60, into a tinsel and spun-candy world of reckless beauty and mounting laughter and whirling thrills; of rhythm, excitement and grace; of blaring and daring and dance; of high-stepping horses and high-flying stars. But behind all this, the circus is a massive machine whose very life depends on discipline and motion and speed. A mechanized army on wheels, that rolls over any obstacle in its path, that meets calamity again and again, but always comes up smiling. A place where disaster and tragedy stalk the big top, haunt the backyard, and ride the circus train. Where death is constantly watching for one frayed rope, one weak link, or one trace of fear. A fierce, primitive fighting force that smashes relentlessly forward against impossible odds. That is the circus. And this is the story of the biggest of the big tops, and of the men and women who fight to make it "The Greatest Show on Earth.""

"Midway barker: [last lines] That's all, ladies and gentlemen, that's all. Come again to the greatest show on earth. Bring the children. Bring the old folks. You can shake the sawdust off your feet, but you can't shake it outta your heart. Come again, folks. The Greatest Show on Earth. Come again."

"John Qualen - Deputy Sheriff Sulo"

"Ken Lynch - Sgt. James Durgo"

"Joseph N. Welch - Judge Weaver"

"Orson Bean - Dr. Matthew Smith"

"Eve Arden - Maida Rutledge"

"Russ Brown - George Lemon"

"For the benefit of the jury, but more especially for the spectators, The garment mentioned in the testimony was, to be exact, Mrs. Manion's panties. [spectators roar with laughter] I wanted to get your snickering over and done with. This pair of panties will be mentioned again over the course of this trial, and when it is, there will not be one laugh, one snicker, one giggle or even one smirk in my courtroom. There is nothing comic about a pair of panties that resulted in the violent death of one man and the possible incarceration of another."

"Now, Mr. Dancer, get off the panties. You've done enough damage."

"Lee Remick - Laura Manion"

"Murray Hamilton - Alphonse Paquette"

"The prosecution would like to separate the motive from the act. Well, that's like trying to take the core from an apple without breaking the skin."

"As a lawyer, I've had to learn that people aren't just good or just bad. People are many things."

"The lieutenant goes to Quill's place and plugs Mr. Quill about five times, which causes Mr. Quill to promptly die of lead poisoning."

"Twelve people go off into a room: twelve different minds, twelve different hearts, from twelve different walks of life; twelve sets of eyes, ears, shapes, and sizes. And these twelve people are asked to judge another human being as different from them as they are from each other. And in their judgment, they must become of one mind - unanimous. It's one of the miracles of Man's disorganized soul that they can do it, and in most instances, do it right well. God bless juries."

"You know I used to think the world looked better through a glass of whiskey. It doesn't. I think I'll keep it this way. Looks nice."

"One judge is quite like another. The only differences may be in the state of their digestions or their proclivities for sleeping on the bench. For myself, I can digest pig iron. And while I might appear to doze occasionally, you will find that I am easily awakened, particularly if shaken gently by a good lawyer with a nice point of law."

"James Stewart - Paul Biegler"

"Arthur O'Connell - Parnell Emmett McCarthy"

"Kathryn Grant - Mary Pilant"

"George C. Scott - Claude Dancer"

"I'm just a humble country lawyer trying to do the best I can against this brilliant prosecutor from the big city of Lansing."

"Royal Beal - Sheriff Battisfore"

"[after cross-examining a convicted felon] Your Honor, I don't think I can dignify this - -creature - - with any more questions."

"Joseph Kearns - Mr. Burke, crime scene photographer"