El rey del circo

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.