3 Ring Circus

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.

This is another Martin & Lewis movie I watched on YouTube. Like one of their previous films-The Stooge-there's some drama mixed in with the by-now familiar comedy associated with the team especially Jerry whenever he gets excited about something. But while I thought it was a mistake in The Stooge to have Lewis seem to still act naive most of the time, here he believably becomes a bit smarter as the narrative goes on. Also, since he does calm down here, he reverts to his natural voice whenever that happens which also contributes to a more natural mix of comedy and drama. It's also refreshing to see Dean be more of a supporter for Jer instead of occasionally treating him like dirt like in The Caddy. Likewise for when that does happen, it doesn't happen for long. He has two leading ladies this time: Zsa Zsa Gabor as the egotistical trapeze artist, and Joanne Dru as the circus owner who he calls "Boss Lady". Both are adequate enough in their roles. Then there's Gene Sheldon as the alcoholic star clown who Jerry seems to idolize despite his treatment by him. It's a good enough dramatic performance for him. Like I said, there are some expected outrageously hilarious comical scenes like when Jer has to tame some lions or when he convinces The Bearded Lady (Elsa Lanchester) to let him shave her. But this was also one of the more sentimental of M & L's movies as evidenced by the finale when Lewis in his clown makeup tries to cheer up a sad little girl in the audience. So on that note, I recommend 3 Ring Circus. P.S. Watch for occasional Lewis regular Kathleen Freeman as a victim of a custard.

3 Ring Circus was not a film Dean Martin cared to remember. Apparently this was a film that Jerry Lewis wanted to make because he got to play a circus clown. Dean had very little to do here, he only got one solo song though it's a good one.

Nick Tosches fine biography of Dean Martin says that Jerry ran the film, including picking the director Joseph Pevney. It was the first time that real tension was rather public between the team.

Dino and Jerry play a pair of newly discharged veterans who pick up jobs in a circus. Jerry is placed as a lion tamer's assistant and he has a marvelous scene with Sig Ruman as a rather inpatient lion tamer. Trying to teach Jerry the trade would be enough to drive anyone crazy. But Jerry is actually correct in his reasoning that if he just hires on with the circus, sooner or later his talents as a clown will shine through. Though he drives owners Wallace Ford and Joanne Dru wacky with his antics, he becomes a marvelous clown. That's a profession you are born to, either your funny or you're not. My favorite scene with him is Jerry trying to hand the aerial cyclist his unicycle and then getting caught on the high wire with it.

On the other hand Dino is caught between Joanne Dru and the star attraction of the show, trapeze artist Zsa Zsa Gabor. Gabor is also jealous when Lewis gets to be the real star of the show. I think you can figure out how all this ends.

Dean and Jerry do a song written for the film Hey Punchinello by Paramount contract songwriters Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. But Dean's one and only solo was the interpolated classic, It's A Big Wide Wonderful World. For reasons I don't understand he made no record of this so the only place you'll hear him is in 3 Ring Circus. The song was introduced by Buddy Clark in the Forties and it fits Dean's style perfectly.

Other than that song, this film was strictly Jerry's show with Dean only in support. No wonder tension flared.

Jerry Lewis plays Jerome F. 'Jerry' Hotchkiss and Dean Martin is Peter 'Pete' Nelson, two friends who find work at the circus.Jerry's dream is to become a master clown, which he did become in real life.Joseph Pevney's 3 Ring Circus offers something for the Martin and Lewis fans they're asking for.Jerry is as zany and funny as always and Dean is as smooth and wonderful as he ever was.There are also stars like Kathleen Freeman and Zza Zza Gabor in the movie.I saw this movie in 1998 and I would like to see it again, as I would like to see a bunch of other Jerry Lewis films.This is the day when Jerry Lewis turns 80 years old.He still hasn't fully retired.On IMDb it said he's making a cameo in a movie called Horrorween, which comes out next year.He also wrote a book called Dean and Me: A Love Story.You should all read it.I sure would if only I could find it from this country.This grand old man has made so many people laugh over the years that all I can say to him is thank you.Laughter is something we all need these days.

Reports I've read state that "3 Ring Circus" was a very troubled production, ranging from stars Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis demanding a lot of script changes through filming to the fact that their partnership was at this stage becoming very strained. All of this turmoil may explain why the end results do not manage to be all that humorous. Much of the movie is surprisingly played in a lower key than usual; even Lewis doesn't go all out like he did in other movies. I will say that Lewis all the same is pretty good, especially when he's in clown makeup and performing in front of an audience. Martin does try, but the script for the most part makes him a kind of a heel instead of a humorous straight man, and often doesn't seem to know what to do with his character. There also isn't a heck of a lot of plot on display as well. The movie had potential, but this is definitely one case where everyone involved should have come to some sort of agreement first about how to do the movie - or simply not have done the movie at all.