Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Film legend proved Jumbo talents in different genres
In 1963, Doris Day teamed up with James Garner, playing husband and wife in two of the biggest box office hits that year – The Thrill Of It All for Universal and Move Over Darling for Twentieth Century Fox.
The latter film kept Fox afloat after the huge losses it had incurred with the 1963 box office bomb Cleopatra.
The title song, sung by Day, hit the charts and was written by Day’s son, Terry Melcher, who was a songwriter and record producer with such stars as The Beach Boys.
But he was also famous for turning down an aspiring musician named Charles Manson. When Manson and his followers embarked on their murderous rampage in 1969, they headed to the house once owned by Melcher hoping to find him there and instead came upon actress Sharon Tate and visitors, all of whom were killed.
MGM was running true to form when they produced their spectacular Panavision and Metrocolor 1962 screen version of Billy Rose’s Jumbo.
It was Day’s final Hollywood musical as she starred as the daughter of a circus proprietor, played by screen veteran Jimmy Durante.
In keeping with the grand tradition of lavish MGM musicals, the quality in this wonderful family movie was evident in every department.
The studio hired some of the world’s most famous circus acts, including three talented elephants, Sidney, Hattie and Anna May, who shared the title role in this elaborate Joe Pasternak production, directed by Charles Walters.
Day was no ordinary singer; she sang a song as though she meant it, but also with the firm knowledge that was what people wanted to hear.
There were quiet ballads and louder, more raucous tunes and, again, she weaves her magic cinematic spell in Jumbo as she performs the musical numbers by Rogers and Hart.
Jumbo was one of the last of the MGM Hollywood musicals and was followed by The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) and The Singing Nun (1966), both starring Debbie Reynolds.
“Jump for joy, it’s Jumbo,” was the catchphrase to promote the spectacular musical when it arrived at the New Cinema in Airdrie in the summer of 1962. It was a sheer joy to enjoy it and
difficult to find an empty seat in one of Monklands’ most popular picture houses.
Day had a remarkable reputation for being receptive and gracious to her many fans. In 1993, I wrote to one of my favourite movie icons, expressing admiration for the star and her films.
I mentioned that the movie
soundtrack of Jumbo wasn’t available in Australia and how much I adored the flick.
What a surprise and absolute delight it was, then, to receive a reply with an autographed photo and a copy of the Jumbo soundtrack signed “sincerely, Doris Day”. It remains a treasured possession in my extensive collection of film soundtracks.
Day’s outstanding canon of films ended in 1968 with the last movie she made, starring opposite Brian Keith in With Six You Get Eggroll.
In an effort to preserve the vital historical and cultural significance of America’s film heritage, Hollywood studios archives are currently investing millions of dollars in film
restoration and preservation.
Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures rank at the top of the list. Calamity Jane, Pillow Talk, Lover Come Back, Send Me No Flowers, and Jumbo, to name a few in the Day library, have been brilliantly remastered and given the full Bluray treatment, and they look more brilliant than ever.
Day died on May 13, 2019, from
pneumonia. She was America’s sweetheart and the innocent girl next door but, unlike her movies, her personal life was bereft of happy endings.
In later years she became an animal activist, especially for dogs, and formed the Doris Day Pet Foundation. Even now, 54 years after Day’s final film, the icon’s name retains currency.