A Few Words About A few words about...™ Billy Rose's Jumbo -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

Since musicals were its stock in trade, I'm surprised MGM didn't do any in the late 1960s other than the 1969 Goodbye Mr. Chips when studios were falling over themselves left and right to create the next Sound of Music.

 

[theonemacduff]

Maybe a bit off topic, but the one "Big Top" movie that I liked when I was a kid was Trapeze, with Tony Curtis and (I think) Burt Lancaster. I don't remember much of the plot, or the characters, but I loved the trapeze work.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Mine is The Big Circus.

 

[Matt Hough]

Since musicals were its stock in trade, I'm surprised MGM didn't do any in the late 1960s other than the 1969 Goodbye Mr. Chips when studios were falling over themselves left and right to create the next Sound of Music.

Since The Singing Nun didn't do well for them (did very well at Radio City Music Hall but not elsewhere), I think they must have been hesitant to try it again until Goodbye, Mr. Chips. They did have Say It with Music lined up, and when it was canceled, they toyed with the idea of She Loves Me with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, but they simply paid Julie the $1 million in a pay or play contract they had with her and cut their losses.

 

[JohnMor]

Sampled this disc last night (most of the musical numbers). Wow! It looks gorgeous! So happy to have this on blu. Now if we could add Love Me or Leave Me and Calamity Jane, I'd be very grateful.

 

[ahollis]

Since The Singing Nun didn't do well for them (did very well at Radio City Music Hall but not elsewhere), I think they must have been hesitant to try it again until Goodbye, Mr. Chips. They did have Say It with Music lined up, and when it was canceled, they toyed with the idea of She Loves Me with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, but they simply paid Julie the $1 million in a pay or play contract they had with her and cut their losses.

It's funny, but I never thought of THE SINGING NUN as a musical. I guess it's because the numbers are not full blown but your right about it.

 

[MatthewA]

Since The Singing Nun didn't do well for them (did very well at Radio City Music Hall but not elsewhere), I think they must have been hesitant to try it again until Goodbye, Mr. Chips. They did have Say It with Music lined up, and when it was canceled, they toyed with the idea of She Loves Me with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, but they simply paid Julie the $1 million in a pay or play contract they had with her and cut their losses.

That proposed She Loves Me film is one I'll never get over not happening.

 

[Ethan Riley]

That proposed She Loves Me film is one I'll never get over not happening.

It would have been a charmer for sure, and not terribly expensive.

 

[Matt Hough]

And a reunion of Andrews and Van Dyke would have been perfect casting, too. I also heard that when MGM shelved She Loves Me, they also considered I Do! I Do! with Andrews and Van Dyke before deciding to simply pay Julie off.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Watched this over the weekend. Stunning presentation.The colors jump off the screen. Great job WAC!

 

[Robin9]

Watched this over the weekend. Stunning presentation.The colors jump off the screen. Great job WAC!

I watched this last night and I agree. This Blu-ray disc is excellent. I enjoyed the film yesterday a lot more than I ever have before.

 

[Joel Arndt]

I watched this last night and I agree. This Blu-ray disc is excellent. I enjoyed the film yesterday a lot more than I ever have before.

My reaction was the same. The presentation made this film much more enjoyable. I felt the same way about WAC's Blu-ray Kismet, also.

 

[benbess]

This is a beautiful restoration of this film, but somehow as a movie it was more miss than hit for me. I really liked the cast, but somehow the way it was written I only cared a very little about the characters. As a drama I felt it was lacking, and the songs, although good enough, just didn't quite do it for me. Still, clearly a big-budget production with a lot of talent involved. Perhaps I need to wait a while and see it again at some point....

Almost everyone seems to knock DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth, but that's still far and away my favorite circus film.

 

[Joel Arndt]

This is a beautiful restoration of this film, but somehow as a movie it was more miss than hit for me. I really liked the cast, but somehow the way it was written I only cared a very little about the characters. As a drama I felt it was lacking, and the songs, although good enough, just didn't quite do it for me. Still, clearly a big-budget production with a lot of talent involved. Perhaps I need to wait a while and see it again at some point....

Almost everyone seems to knock DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth, but that's still far and away my favorite circus film.

Pull this out in a few months and watch again. This is a film that has grown on me with each viewing and the Blu-ray enhanced the experience for me. IMHO, the score is gorgeous featuring some of the best songs in the American songbook from Rodgers and Hart including The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, Little Girl Blue, Why Can't I?, This Can't Be Love and My Romance. Such incredible talent behind this film.

PS, I enjoy The Greatest Show on Earth, also.

 

[bujaki]

The songs in Jumbo are among the great nuggets of gold in the Rodgers & Hart output. But to each his own when it comes to appreciation of music Let's say that I'm old fashioned.
I enjoy the colors of The Greatest Show on Earth. But then, Cecil B. always gave us fine Technicolor cinematography.

 

[rsmithjr]

Jumbo is a very old-fashioned movie. It was old the day I saw it in 1962 6 months before release.

Enjoy it for what it is/was. It was the end of the line for MGM musicals as history as come to know them, with many wonderful people taking their last or nearly last bow.

The Blu-ray is fantastic to bring it all home.

 

[Joel Arndt]

Let's say I'm old fashioned, also. I was only 8 months old when this film was released originally, so caught up with it later in life. Beautiful music and orchestrations. Just saw Into the Woods last night and find Billy Rose's Jumbo more enjoyable. Again, call me old fashioned.

 

[bujaki]

I agree with Robert: Jumbo was old-fashioned even when new. But I was enchanted by songs that I was probably hearing for the first time, and couldn't wait to get the soundtrack so I could learn the songs by heart. Being from Puerto Rico, my upbringing didn't include these songs playing in the radio, for instance.
However, I moved with the times (up to a point) and I idolize Sondheim.

 

[Matt Hough]

Doris' renditions of "Little Girl Blue" and "My Romance" are definitive, I think.

If Jumbo had been a big hit, Doris might have given us some more musicals before she ended her movie career.

 

[Robin9]

If Jumbo had been a big hit, Doris might have given us some more musicals before she ended her movie career.

She might have, but not long after this she made a comedy with Rock Hudson and - what's that cliche? - the rest is history.