Le clown est roi

This must have been a tough film for Dean Martin to make. After all, his character is a bit of a jerk and he garners so sympathy or love from the audience in this one. As for Jerry, he is an oddball in this one--not bad at all, but also not exactly funny. Instead, he's amusing and it's nice to see him take on a lot of different jobs at the circus.

When the film begins, Pete (Dean) and Jerry (Jerry) are leaving the army. They have no prospects and are mostly just concerned with getting a free meal when they wander into a circus. But Jerry would love to one day be a clown--but en route he tries his hand at lion taming, tightrope walking and even getting fired out of a giant cannon! As for the unlikable Pete, he's a schemer and loves it when the circus' resident prima donna (Zha Zha Gabor) falls for him--as he is allow to loaf about and not get fired because he's her boy- toy. Later, as Pete takes on more and more responsibilities with running the circus, he begins to act like it's his and is a pretty obnoxious guy--so much so that his pal, Jerry, becomes rather disillusioned with him. Does this sound like a comedy? No...well you get the picture. It has some sweet moments and Jerry gets to do quite a bit--but Dean is in a thankless role as the film lumbers along. Certainly not one of their better films since the chemistry that made the team enjoyable is a bit lacking.

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.

There are some strange echoes of the real life bust up between Martin and Lewis in the script. It's saddled with Jerry's sincere but misguided belief that he is a natural clown and screen heir to Emmett Kelly, who's makeup he closely resembles in some scenes, imitation being flattery I guess. The buddies, newly discharged from the army and penniless head for the circus where Jerry, longing to become a clown instead has to apply to be a trainee lion tamer (as if..) the usual water squirting elephants and disgruntled, drunken clown lead us to the quease-inducing finale when Jerry as the clown succeeds in making a sad little girl (in leg irons, yet)smile at his tears. For 1954 audiences I'm sure it was a pleasure break from post war blues but it's well past it's sell by date. TRIVIA: Unless I'm much mistaken the sequence where Dean Martin does acrobatics on some low bars is doubled by Nick Cravat who appears elsewhere in the film and was an acrobatic partner of Burt Lancaster.

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.

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.