Wizard-8 I will admit that there seems to be an audience for this musical, based on the fact that it managed to get a release on the Blu-ray format. But to be honest, the movie left this viewer somewhat cold. For starters, the title is kind of odd, seeing how the elephant Jumbo only makes sporadic and brief appearances throughout the movie. But there are further problems with the screenplay. At over two hours in length, the thin story is extended way past the breaking point. As for the songs, while they are not awful, they are not very memorable (though the song "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World" has its moments.) And you'd never figure that the great Busby Berkeley staged the musical numbers, because they sorely lack the punch of his earlier musicals. While the cast is bright and likable, and the movie boasts some pretty good production values and circus acts, these things don't raise the movie much from the level of being instantly forgettable. It's no wonder that the movie was a box office failure, and was one of the final nails in the coffin of the Hollywood musical until "The Sound Of Music" temporarily revived the genre a few years later.

advslr 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.

chamanwayne This is a great piece of professional entertainment.A good romantic-comedy story well told and well-acted. Wonderful cast,all at their very best and well directed. Martha Raye and Jimmy Durante amaze with physical comedy and warmth. In fact, the strong personal warmth of all the actors shines through in their performances creating a believable truth in a script, while, though good for its genre and time,could be a pitfall for actors bent on delivering truthful performances. Masterful, professional and touching. Steven Boyd and Doris Day impress with truth of emotion and give each other the strength of their specialties; Boyd with his digging for truth in a character and a deep connection to his fellow actors and Day with her dazzling professionalism and respect for the musical comedy genre. Impressive work. The generous budget allows creative designers and musicians to bloom with joyful creativity. Countless surprises for the eye and ear. The clown sequence finale for the 4 leads is priceless! Enjoy. I sure did!

jacklmauro This film is, in a word, surreal. Even for a late-in-the-game musical. On the plus side, the R&H songs are excellent and Day is fantastic. Stephen Boyd's taken a lot of heat in these reviews and, yes, he's no outstanding leading man. But he does the one thing he needs to do very well - he looks gorgeous, and you understand Day's being crazy for him. But the story goes all over the place. It jumps from froth to dark treachery, then way back again, and what's worst of all is you feel you're watching a dreadfully low-budget extravaganza, especially as the betrayed circus stragglers hit the road to make a living. Even Boyd's reappearance to redeem himself is done too quickly and with no real explanation about the destruction of the family circus or his part in it. He just starts singing about circus fun and everything's lovely again. Finally, the last twenty-minute number is a...well, psycho musical comedy explosion. Yet - see it. Day doing 'Little Girl Blue' is worth it alone, with Boyd's studly hanging about on ropes coming in a close second.