3 RING CIRCUS / Joseph Pevney (1954)

October 3rd, 2007 by Scott Marks

3 RING CIRCUS (1956)

Directed by Joseph Pevney

Written by Don McGuire & Joseph Pevney

Starring: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Joanne Dru, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Wallace Ford, Sig Ruman, Elsa Lancaster & Phil Van Zandt

Running Time: 103 min.

Dean & Jerry play a couple of unemployed pallys who get a gig with the circus. As a Martin & Lewis vehicle, The story is terrible, there are no (intentional) laughs, it suffers from prolonged pathos and worst of all — there is a surplus of wholesome circus acts. This clown stuff is the one facet of Jerry’s personality that I cannot come to terms with. Can’t stand clowns, never have, and clowns in a Lewis film generally indicate maudlin pathos, not laughter. This was the first of the duo’s pictures where their personal relationship began to curdle. It’s a fascinating mess if for no other reason than you can actually see the contempt the boys had for each other. They spend a great deal apart — Dean sings to the animals while Jerry tries to make a bitter little girl with leg braces laugh — but when they’re on screen their mutual dislike is hard to mask. And a bearded Elsa Lancaster makes one understand what Laughton saw in her. It’s only one of two M&L films not released on DVD and it could be their worst film together. One thing is for certain. Joseph Pevney makes Norman Taurog look like Tashlin.

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