In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the traveling The Wonder Circus has the greatest attraction the elephant Jumbo and is full of debts. The owner, Anthony 'Pop' Wonder (Jimmy Durante),works as a clown but is a gambler addicted in dice games and usually loses the box office gambling. He has been deceiving the clairvoyant Lulu (Martha Raye) for many years promising to marry her. His daughter, Kitty Wonder (Doris Day),is the trick rider and tries to negotiate with creditors and the circus performers to keep the business going on. John Noble (Dean Jagger),who owns a famous Noble Circus, wants to buy Jumbo and The Wonder Circus, but Pop refuses his offers.
When the mysterious Sam Rawlins (Stephen Boyd) asks for a job in the Wonder Circus, Kitty refuses and tells that they do not want adventurer working in their circus. But he proves to be an excellent aerialist and handy man and Pop hires him since they lost many performers due to the lack of payment. Soon Kitty falls in love with Sam, but he has a secret agenda and she does not know.
"Billy Rose's Jumbo" is a forgettable and cute musical based on a 1935 Broadway show. The silly plot is a predictable romance entwined with many songs and performances by circus performers and entertains. The work of the stunts and the edition is wonderful. Unfortunately the songs in the DVD released by Warner in Brazil do not have subtitles in a absolute lack of respect from Warner to the Brazilian costumers. Shame on you Warner! My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "A Mais Querida do Mundo" ("The Dearest in the World")
Billy Rose's Jumbo
1962
Action / Comedy / Musical / Romance
Billy Rose's Jumbo
1962
Action / Comedy / Musical / Romance
Plot summary
It's the early 1900's. The Wonder Circus is a traveling circus owned and operated by Anthony Wonder - who performs as a clown - and his daughter Kitty Wonder - who performs as an aerialist and trick rider. Although Kitty loves her Pop as she and all the other circus performers call her father, she hates his gambling addiction which is placing the circus deep in debt. They and their employees treat the circus like one big family, especially Lulu the fortune teller who wants to be Mrs. Wonder, but the employees may only be so loyal if they aren't getting paid. As such, many of the performers leave or threaten to leave to join the Wonder Circus' main competitor, the Noble Circus owned by the power and money hungry John Noble. Although Pop and Kitty don't want anyone to leave their employ, the only act that they will never let go is Jumbo, their trained elephant, who Noble had tried to buy in the past. As many performers leave, into their midst comes circus Jack-of-all-trades Sam Rawlins. Kitty is reluctant to hire Sam because she wants loyal people working for them instead of someone like Sam who she sees as a "sunshiner", a career circus employee who moves from gig to gig. Pop has no such reservation and hires him. Despite still being somewhat suspicious of Sam's motivations since she figures he could get more money working for Noble with his vast array of circus skills, Kitty starts to fall in love with Sam, and he with her, despite his attempts to feign disinterest. Indeed, Sam is hiding a secret about himself and his reason for being with the show. That secret may jeopardize his standing with the Wonders if they ever found out - even if Sam begins to have second thoughts about his reasons for joining them - and jeopardize the entire Wonder Circus itself which includes Jumbo's life.
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Forgettable and Cute Musical
Doris Day is deceived in the romance department once again!
The usual circus fun: a determinedly old-fashioned big-top opus with animals, parades, high-wire attractions, songs by Rodgers & Hart. Doris Day manages a struggling traveling circus in the early 1900s, while pop Jimmy Durante gambles away their earnings and show-performer Martha Raye halfheartedly attempts to get Durante down the aisle. Ever-earnest Stephen Boyd shows up in need of a job, and quickly gets Day's heart racing, before it's revealed he's the son of their chief rival--and what he's really after is star-attraction Jumbo the Elephant! Good-looking hokum, if your tastes run to squeaky-clean backlot romps. Too bad the scenarists skimp on any colorful glimpses of the eccentric carny lifestyle (what drives these people so hard anyway?). In the 1960s, Doris Day mainly concentrated on her series of popular bedroom comedies; this effort (her last musical) broke up her routine and she's delightful as always. The piqued direction is by Charles Walters, who has his work bolstered a bit by Busby Berkeley, overseeing the circus sequences. **1/2 from ****
2 hours of sheer pleasure
Billy Rose's Jumbo may have a few slow parts and Stephen Boyd's wooden performance as said already. The energy and colour as well as the songs and performances make up for that in a huge way though. The story may be silly and not the most focused, but it is very charming and warm-hearted as well that you don't care so much when the film makes a big and successful effort to entertain regardless. Throughout the film looks beautiful with lots of colour. The songs, especially The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, Over and Over Again and My Romance are wonderful, while the script is full of snappy lines("what elephant" is a classic and it is very easy to see why),the choreography has a lot of energy and charisma and the stunts although difficult are made to look easy, a tell-tale sign of the commitment and professionalism of those involved. For favourite scenes, the rousing opening and the hilarious scene where Jimmy Durante tries to hide the elephant are personal picks. Aside from Boyd the performances are very good. Doris Day shows a wisdom, warmth, sassy comic timing and an ability also to be dramatically heartfelt, and in terms of her singing she can't be faulted. My Romance is just sublime. Jimmy Durante is hilarious and has a lot of effortless charm, and Martha Raye matches him every step of the way. Jumbo steals all the scenes he appears in too. Billy Rose's Jumbo is solidly directed with a relatively light touch. In conclusion, a pleasure to watch and recommended for Rodgers/Hart and Doris Day fans. 9/10 Bethany Cox