Burt Lancaster stars as PT Barnum, breaking the fourth window to tell the story of the showman, author and politician who died four months shy of 81 years-old in 1891.
The man is known as the best purveyor of entertainment in history, a master of sales and marketing. He entered into showmanship in New York at the age of 25 after purchasing a blind and near-paralyzed slave woman, supposedly George Washington's 161 years-old former nurse. She died a year later with an autopsy revealing that she was no more than 80.