Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1962)

?///» ef btitinethH "Jumbo" — It's Big Entertainment, Big Boxoffice GutiKCM Rati*? © © O 0 Lavish, fun — and song-filled musical show that will delight wide range of moviegoers. Color, Panavision. Doris Day heads big cast. Treat for holiday season and beyond. Producers Joe Pasternak and Martin Melcher, with MetroGoldwyn-Mayer at the reins, are posing as Santa Claus this year, or so exhibitors and moviegoers will think once they cast their eyes on this sparkling Christmas package of cheer. Inside the colorful wrapping, is Billy Rose's "Jumbo", a happy-golucky, turn-of-the-century circus musical, based on the musical play produced by Rose at the New York Hippodrome. Produced in Panavision and Metrocolor, it stars Doris Day, Stephen Boyd, Jimmy Durante and Martha Raye, and is further enriched by marvelous circus acts performed by the four stars and a collection of international big top names, plus the outstanding music and lyrics of Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. The weather outside may be cold but the temperature inside the cashier's cage will be sizzling. Superb family entertainment, "Jumbo" is going to roll up sock grosses in all situations. Perhaps, some sophisticates may probably find this telling of the struggles of a bankrupt circus owned by Durante and his daughter, Miss Day, a bit too naive, but the masses are going to eat it up. Bright and breezy, this tremendous hunk of big top entertainment is loaded with showmanship galore. Miss Day, happily returning to musical comedy, and Boyd, of "Ben-Hur" fame, will certainly attract the youthful element, while Durante and Miss Raye, back on the screen after quite a long absence, can be counted on to bring in the older moviegoers. And for the kiddies this will prove to be a feast. There are colorful parades, feats of daring, comic hijinks and Jumbo, unquestionably the most gigantic and brightest elephant ever to lumber across the screen. Jumbo emerges a star in his own right by winking back at Durante, throwing trouble makers off the lot and scaring the very pants off creditors after being egged on by Durante. Director Charles Walters has handled the personal involvements leisurely, but he turns on the cinematic steam heat elsewhere. Equestrian and aerial acts provide only part of the thrills. There's also a thunderstorm which practically destroys the circus while in performance and a clever love scene between Miss Day and Boyd played high above the center ring. Comedy certainly has its day with Durante doubling as a clown in an extremely funny bit, and the four stars participate in a »lap-stick clown act that is certain to have the youngsters rolling in the aisles. Then there's the score, made up of such standards as "My Romance," "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", "Little Girl Blue" and "This Can't Be Love", plus >uch foot-tappers as "Over and Over Again" and "Circus On Parade". Each number is attractively and imaginatively dressed Jp and played off against such varied backgrounds as a carousel, rapezes, the raising of the tent and the deserted big top. The characters and situations, as scripted by Sidney Sheldon ind based on the Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur book, are Doris Day is about to roll the dice to save her circus, as Stephen Boyd stands at her side. definitely on the old-fashioned side, but this will matter only to a few viewers. Miss Day portrays a very "hip" showwoman who uses every trick up her pretty little sleeve to keep her beloved circus one jump ahead of the creditors. Boyd is the handsome and robust stranger who shows up one day asking for work, knows so much about circus life that Durante hires him, despite Miss Day's objection to his arrogant attitude, then finds himself falling in love with his pretty boss. What no one knows is that Boyd is actually the son of a rival circus owner who is secretly signing all the circus debts over to his father. Durante is cast as the circus-in-his-blood owner who loves Jumbo like a son, but who cannot stop gambling away all of the hard-earned profits. Miss Raye is his counterpart, Durante's fortune telling fiancee of 14 years, so in love with Durante that she even agrees to let him shoot her out of a cannon (another comic high point). Dean Jagger shows up as Boyd's father, obsessed with owning Jumbo, the greatest attraction of the day. Technical credits to music conductor George Stoll, cameraman William H. Daniels, circus act coordinator Al Dobritch and those special effects wizards, A. Arnold Gillespie, J. McMillan Johnson and Robert R. Hoag. When Boyd realizes he is in love with Miss Day, he decides to go to Jagger and talk him out of his circus stealing scheme. But Jagger shows up with papers giving him full control. He agrees to let Durante and the others stay on, but they refuse. Miss Day, Durante and Miss Raye take to the road as traveling entertainers. Boyd, having walked out on Jagger, finally catches up with them and produces Jumbo. He promises the struggling trio that with a lot of work, they will one day own the greatest show on earth. M-G-M. 125 minutes. Doris Day, Stephen Boyd, Jimmy Durante, Martha Raye. Produced by Joe Pasternak and Martin Melcher. Directed by Charles Walters. Film BULLETIN December 10, 1942 Page 13