Billy Rose's Jumbo

Overview

Hoping to save the Wonder Circus from foreclosure, owner Pop Wonder turns operations over to a young hot-shot, not knowing that he is actually the son of Pop's biggest rival. This quaint musical was based on the 1935 Broadway musical Jumbo by Rodgers and Hart.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/14/2014
UPC:	0888574098650
Original Release:	1962
Rating:	G
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Time:	2:07:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Doris Day	Kitty Wonder
Stephen Boyd	Sam Rawlins
Dean Jagger	John Noble
Jimmy Durante	Anthony "Pop" Wonder
Martha Raye	Lulu
Joseph Waring	Harry
Lynn Wood	Tina,Hank
Charles Watts	Ellis
James Chandler	Parsons
Robert Burton	Madison
Norman Leavitt	Eddie
Grady Sutton	Driver
John Hart	Marshal
Roy Engel	Reporter
Jack Boyle	Reporter
Robert B. Williams	Deputy
Sue Casey	Dottie
Fred Cob	Andy
William Hines	Roustabout
Michael Kostrick	Michaels
Ralph Lee	Perry
Paul Wexler	Sharpie
Otto Reichow	Hans
Billy Barty	Joey
Chuck Haren	Lennie
J. Lewis Smith	Dick
Ron Henon	Circus Performer
Corky Cristians	Circus Performer
Victor Julian	Circus Performer
Richard Berg	Circus Performer
Joe Monahan	Circus Performer
Miss Lani	Circus Performer
Adolph Dubsky	Circus Performer
Pat Anthony	Circus Performer
Janos Prohaska	Circus Performer
George Stoll	Composer

Technical Credits

Sidney Sheldon

Charles Walters	Director
A. Arnold Gillespie	Special Effects
Robert R. Hoag	Special Effects
J. McMillan Johnson	Special Effects
Martin Melcher	Producer
Joe Pasternak	Producer
Sidney Sheldon	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

A throwback to an earlier, simpler era, Billy Rose's Jumbo is a moderately entertaining musical, the slender plot of which cannot support the elephantine proportions of its production. The spectacle is certainly impressive; a lot of money was spent on re-creating some marvelous circus acts and settings, but they only seem to point up how skimpy and dull the screenplay is. While the musical numbers are bright and peppy, too much of the dialogue scenes are dull, and the pacing lags. Even perennially perky Doris Day seems a little lacking in energy. Fortunately, the Rodgers and Hart score is glorious, and well served by Day, Martha Raye and Jimmy Durante, whose rendition of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" is delightful. Stephen Boyd looks good but is terribly wooden, and seems visibly uncomfortable during many of the musical moments. Fortunately, Raye and especially Durante provide enough comic moments to help make up for Boyd's lifelessness. Charles Walters' direction is hesitant, but Busby Berkeley's staging of the musical numbers - especially the opening, with its dizzying final shot -- is first rate. As a result of Jumbo's box office failure, Day was passed over for lead roles in The Unsinkable Molly Brown and The Sound of Music.