3 Ring Circus (1954)

Another movie with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Jerry and Pete are two friends with no money, looking for some job. They finally find one as workers in a circus, but Jerry has different ... See full summary »

Director:

Joseph Pevney

Writer:

Don McGuire (story)

Stars:

Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Joanne Dru

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Dean Martin	...	Peter 'Pete' Nelson
Jerry Lewis	...	Jerome F. 'Jerry' Hotchkiss
Joanne Dru	...	Jill Brent
Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Saadia
Wallace Ford	...	Sam Morley
Sig Ruman	...	Colonel Fritz Schlitz
Gene Sheldon	...	Puffo the Clown
Nick Cravat	...	Timmy
Elsa Lanchester	...	The Bearded Lady

Storyline

Another movie with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin. Jerry and Pete are two friends with no money, looking for some job. They finally find one as workers in a circus, but Jerry has different dreams. He wants to become a clown...

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Plot Keywords:

circus | circus performer | handicapped child | crosley automobile | number in title

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Taglines:

Tame a lion. Get shot out of a cannon. Wash an elephant. Jerrico will do anything to become a circus clown.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 1955 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Big Top

Filming Locations:

McKinley Home for Boys - 13840 Riverside Drive, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In August 1955 writers George Beck and Samuel Locke filed a $65,000 infringement lawsuit against Paramount and Hal B. Wallis, claiming that Wallis had hired them to write a circus story for Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, entitled Big Top, which Wallis later rejected. The disposition of the suit is not known.

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Connections

Referenced in Martin and Lewis (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Hey, Punchinello"
by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans

User Reviews

The beginning of the end

Dean and Jerry are more relaxed in this film than in previous efforts. The comedy is also milder. It is also the first time Jerry indulges in his sentimental clown shtick. Hello, telethon Jerry! Dean has absolutely nothing to do in the film. He plays his usual heel character, but there is absolutely no depth to it. And where are the musical numbers? Only the woefully unfunny "That's My Boy" has less in the way of music! Dean and Jerry get to do one new number, "Puncinello", and Dean sings the standard "It's a Big, Wide Wonderful World" to a bunch of animals! (Hugh Shannon, the wonderful jazz singer-pianist who is most identified with this song, must have had a good laugh from Dean's version.) Dean has no ballads and hardly any screen time with his leading lady, Joanne Dru. It's all about Jerry, not silly, lovable Jerry, but a telethon Jerry, trying to become a clown. Actually, the film is quite amusing and heartwarming, but it's not Martin and Lewis. I do not know if Twenty-first Century youngsters would find this amusing, but I did when I was a kid. It is more endearing than "That's My Boy" and most of the solo Lewis films. It may be a bit slow for today's kids.