I picked this movie to be a part of my challenge this year on the strength of it starring Doris Day and because one of my favorite songs "My Romance" is from this film. Unfortunately this was not the best film.
I won't say this is a bad film - it has a sweet romance at it's heart between Doris Day and Stephen Boyd's characters. The fact that it's called Jumbo makes it seem like it centers around the elephant, which it kinda doesn't, but it was sweet how much love Jumbo got from his circus family. And speaking of the circus, I'm glad I don't have any problems with clowns, because for anyone who might, this could be an issue. Especially with the finale. The problem I had with this movie was how light on plot it is. It's more of a slice of life on a circus - it features quite a few circus act performances, some trials and tribulations facing them, with a thin plot against the Wonder Circus to be taken over by a rival. The story feels very light, and the drama predictable.
Doris Day is still wonderful throughout this though, I just love her singing, and she does brightly feminine with a touch of asperity so well. She's fun for me to watch. Stephen Boyd is quite attractive too - I loved his brooding presence in this film, as he has a secret he's keeping. I should talk about the music as well - "My Romance" is still a wonderful song to me - definitely my favorite from a film that was light on musical numbers, although it did feature another catchy tune in "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World."
I think that this film is dated though, and unfortunately the appeal of circus life is lacking in modern times, so this isn't really a memorable film. And I should have picked Doris Day's "Calamity Jane" as part of this challenge as I think it's a better film - so I'm changing it up! If you are doing this challenge, I'm substituting Calamity Jane for Jumbo, and will add that as a bonus musical for me to watch this year. (I haven't seen it before!)
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