This 1962 musical extravaganza, perhaps best remembered for Jimmy Durante's signature “What elephant?” gag (and for being referenced in John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1980 novel A Confederacy of Dunces) marked the end of an era. It was Doris Day's last musical, Durante's final leading screen role, and Busby Berkeley's swan song as a film choreographer. Based on the 1935 Broadway musical (in which Durante also starred), Billy Rose's Jumbo centers on the misfortunes of the financially struggling Wonder Circus, whose main attraction is the eponymous giant pachyderm. Durante stars as circus owner Pop Wonder, with Day as his daughter, and force of nature Martha Raye as Lulu the fortune teller, who wonders whether marriage to Pop will ever be in her future. Stephen Boyd costars as the handsome new arrival, sent by his father (Dean Jagger)—a rival circus owner—to undermine the Wonder Circus. Even when I saw this as a kid, I thought Boyd (Ben-Hur) was out of his element in a musical comedy, but Durante, Day, and Raye are seasoned pros. Perhaps not the greatest show on Earth (it bombed at the box office), Billy Rose's Jumbo is still a lot of fun, with some great songs—including the Rodgers and Hart standards “This Can't Be Love” and “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”—and fine vintage circus acts. Bowing on Blu-ray, extras include the 1953 Tom and Jerry cartoon “Jerry and Jumbo,” and the 1933 Rodgers and Hart musical short “Yours Sincerely.” Recommended. (D. Liebenson)
Billy Rose's Jumbo
Warner, 127 min., not rated, Blu-ray: $21.99 Volume 29, Issue 1
Billy Rose's Jumbo
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