I was born in June, 1944 (when this film is set), about 25 miles from Fort McCoy.
As I grew up I knew a number of people who had worked, as civilians, at Fort McCoy. I was very interested in seeing how the film would present the place and time, etc.
Unfortunately, the screenplay is amateurish ,at best, the acting is wooden and the sets, such as they are, could be anywhere in a woods with a small river and a couple of buildings.
This may well be a true story but it is told in a way that made me simply want to turn it off after about 20 minutes. I stayed with it, though...hoping for The Best. I didn't get it.
There were lots of American soldiers at Fort McCoy at this time but you'd swear there were only 5-6 as you watch the film. Plus 5-6 Japanese PWS and maybe 10 German PWs (who, apparently, were allowed to wander around the place at all times of the day and night with no supervision).
I'm sure the film was made on a small, small budget but that's no excuse.
Seriously, I'm sorry I wasted my time on this little flick.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Billy Rose's Jumbo
(1962)
Oof-Tah
26 December 2014
Seriously, find something else to watch. Bad acting, terrible casting, even worse "music". But, go ahead, watch it sometime if you must...the folks who made it tried very hard. There's no accounting for taste. On paper, the cast looks pretty good. Except for poor Stephen Boyd who must have been really hard up for work to take a shot at this turkey. It's nice to see Durante and Doris Day tries hard...but that's not enough. The setting and style are incredibly dated and the movie just doesn't work on any level. The folks who made it should have known better but it's hard to fault them for trying. It's not even "kitschy", it's just a musical that probably shouldn't have been made...at least, not in 1962.
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