Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962 Film Soundtrack) [Soundtrack]

Richard Rodgers, Doris Day, Lorenz Hart | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 10, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Collectables
• ASIN: B00005KHFI
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,731 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Circus on Parade

2. Over and Over Again

3. Why Can't I?

4. This Can't Be Love

5. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

6. My Romance

7. The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (Reprise)

8. Little Girl Blue

9. Sawdust, Spangles and Dreams (Finale)

Editorial Reviews

Billy Rose's Jumbo is a classic Hollywood musical with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, screenplay by Sidney Sheldon and an all-star cast headed by Doris Day, Jimmy Durante, Martha Raye and Stephen Boyd. This soundtrack continued Doris Day's long succession of hit records for the Columbia label and includes the incomparable The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, My Romance, Little Girl Blue and many more. 9 tracks. 2001 reissue.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A PEFECT DAY, December 17, 2001

By 

Paul Brogan (Concord, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962 Film Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

The soundtrack to the film "Jumbo", also known as "Billy Roses's Jumbo" is a musical treat for lovers of good music, beautifully sung.

The film was MGM's big holiday release during the 1962-63 movie season and starred the world's number one box-office attraction, Doris Day. The grosses, however, did not quite measure up to the blockbuster comedies Miss Day was making during that time, the film being labeled old-fashioned and corny. That does not diminish in any way the outstanding musical score of the film and the soundtrack does full justice to that score.

Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart composed the score for "Jumbo" for it's stage debut at the Hippodrome in New York City in the 1930's. They were at their peak as a team and "Jumbo" contains some of their finest work. George Stoll and his MGM musicians bring out the best in those songs and the arrangements effectively capture the magic and wonder of the Big-Top, in which the story is set.

Among the most famous songs from the score are "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World", "My Romance", and "Little Girl Blue". For the film another Rodgers and Hart song was added from another score, "This Can't Be Love". It's a nice addition.

Doris Day has rarely sounded better, vocally. Her voice had taken on a maturity and depth, after twenty years of singing professionally, as well as a sensuality that is most affecting. From her exuberant "Over and Over Again" and "The Circus on Parade" to the poignant "My Romance" and the heartbreakingly real "Little Girl Blue", her phrasing, intonation and richness of tone as well as crystal clear diction are beyond reproach. She manages to brilliantly make the listener understand her character and the feelings swirling through her without the need to see even a frame of film.

Day's co-star Stephen Boyd did not do his own vocals in the film but his voice double renders a lusty version of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" with Stoll's orchestrations taking the listener on a breathtaking merry-go-round ride. One might wish that Jimmy Durante was utilized more since his unmistakable voice during the reprise of "Most Beautiful..." is a joy to listen to. Martha Raye, too, is not given a great deal of airtime but she makes the most of it and her harmonizing with Day on the underrated "Why Can't I" is a musical highlight.

The finale, "Sawdust, Spangles and Dreams" is a rousing and memorable showstopper and the title is certainly apropos.

If you want to hear Day at her vocal peak and have a wonderful representation of Rodgers and Hart at their best, then you'll not find much that is better than "Jumbo".

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what it could have been, July 24, 2005

By 

Gene DeSantis (Philadelphia, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962 Film Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

Perhaps we've been spoiled by Rhino's superb TCM series, but since those mammoth issues we've expected more from soundtrack albums. Practically every reissue of golden-era music has been touched by their conscientiousness and completeness, from Film Score Monthly's discs to the magnificent "Magnificent Seven." Disappointing then that this comes straight from the Masterworks LP masters. There's probably twice this material in Time Warner's vaults; but evidently Sony BMG owns the musical rights thanks to Doris Day, so we're stuck with a truncated, unsatisfying album with a trebly hissy sound. That said, no album can be totally bad with that supercanary Doris, who positively radiates like the sun here; nor with Schnozz, whose brief but touching "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" led to his late-autumn career with Warner Bros. Records and some beautiful musicmaking; certainly not with its principal orchestrator the great Conrad Salinger -- tragically, his last work (he died shortly after, either of a heart attack or by suicide; the Internet record is unclear); the orchestra plays with a faintly somber cast, as though its members realize this is the end. Though "Billy Rose's 'Jumbo'" may not be top-drawer MGM it is still fine music; if only someone in Narberth or in Sony's licensing operations had cared enough to do this right.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Treat For All, November 7, 2002

By 

Anita L. Hanson "A.H. Breck fan" (La Crosse, Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962 Film Soundtrack) (Audio CD)

This is one of the most beautiful musical scores I have ever heard. I have seen the film many times. Listening to the cd, brings back warm memories of watching, this enchanting movie. Doris Day has never been in better vocal form and is lovely to listen to. Stephen Boyd and Miss Day, have a wonderful chemistery. They are a treat to listen to, together. A note for Mr. Brogan who put a review on here. Stephen Boyd DID, do all of his own vocals His long time friend and publicist, was there to witness it. I have no idea where you got the idea, Mr. Brogan that it was not Mr. Boyd singing. He has a beautiful singing voice. This cd is a rare treat for all.
Anita H. Wisconsin