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The Ringmaster 262 For a while the Berkeleys lived at 11968 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, but Buzz became increasingly disillusioned with the industry that was reluctant to offer new opportunities to a sexagenarian with his singular talent. In a momentous decision, Etta and Buzz picked up stakes and moved to Palm Desert, 140 miles east of Hollywood, and one mile from the date groves where They Made Me a Criminal was filmed. They purchased what real estate agents might term a “modest ” residence on a street named “Peppergrass.” The house, a one-floor unit with a sloping roof, minuscule front yard, and covered breezeway, blended anonymously with those of his nearby neighbors. The BeauxArts mansion at 3500 West Adams was, in every way, the antithesis of the Peppergrass house, but that grand residence had never made Buzz happy. It was purchased for Gertrude and sold in despondency. In Palm Desert, Buzz and Etta settled for a quieter life, less demanding, in a climate that suited them both. “The winters are delightful,” said Buzz. “As for the extremes of afternoon heat in the summer—thank God for air conditioning.” Weather notwithstanding, the fact was that the Palm Desert abode made Buzz happy. “Of all the beautiful homes and mansions , this little home surpasses them all,” said Buzz. “Now for the first time in my life I know what a home really means. I never had one before until now.” Such was Buzz’s not-so-veiled compliment to Etta. Despite years of inactivity, Buzz retained his membership in the Directors Guild of America. Annually he received a confidential form on which he was required to list past earnings and estimate future ones so that his dues, based on income, could be calculated. Buzz wrote he had “No earnings for the year 1960,” and $3,500 for all of 1961. For the fill-in sentence that read, “I estimate my earnings for 1962 to be,” Buzz truthfully entered a question mark and signed the form dated January 8, 1962. 15 The Ringmaster 263 Jumbo, or, as it’s also known, Billy Rose’s Jumbo, had a choppy history . Impresario Rose brought the Rodgers and Hart circus musical to New York’s Hippodrome Theatre in 1935. The show received favorable reviews, but the Great Depression forced its closing after five months. In the 1940s, MGM bought the film rights for around $100,000. It was planned that Arthur Freed would produce the picture with a cast that was to include Frank Morgan, Mickey Rooney, and Wallace Beery. By 1945, the project had been dropped, not to be revived again until 1952, when it was abandoned again until 1961, when MGM finally green-lit the project. Doris Day was cast as the lead, accompanied by the nonsinging Stephen Boyd, Martha Raye, and Jimmy Durante (reprising his stage role). Joe Pasternak and Day’s husband, Martin Melcher, produced, and MGM’s choreographer-turned-director Charles Walters helmed the production . Walters didn’t feel he could do justice to the musical numbers. Soon after production began, a telephone rang in Palm Desert and an offer to return to Hollywood was made to the new owner of the modest house on Peppergrass. For this film, Buzz’s first in almost eight years, his credit was to be “second unit director.” The title was really a misnomer (if not a downright demotion), and not the least bit descriptive of his contributions. Normally, the second unit on a feature film is assigned “pickup” shots, establishing shots, stunt work sequences, and inserts. More accurately, the screen credit should have read “Musical numbers created and staged by Busby Berkeley.” Exteriors were to be shot on MGM’s lot 3, the site of the studio’s brand-new oil well. There was a main tent (capable of holding two thousand people), a midway with sideshows, antique circus wagons, and a carousel. Everything was in place to look like a real traveling circus. The animals (including the elephants and horses) were kept on another lot. Two soundstages were assigned for the interiors. Casting was pretty much in place when Buzz came to the project. He and Doris Day spoke fondly of their past collaboration, Romance on the High Seas. Billy Barty, the littlest letch from the “Pettin’ in the Park” and “Honeymoon Hotel” numbers, surprised his old director on one of the soundstages. Barty had been filming a television commercial at MGM when he heard that Buzz was attached to Jumbo...

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