Merry Andrew (film)

Merry Andrew is a 1958 American musical film directed and choreographed by Michael Kidd and starring Danny Kaye. The screenplay by Isobel Lennart and I.A.L. Diamond is based on the short story The Romance of Henry Menafee by Paul Gallico. Saul Chaplin composed the music and Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics for the films score.

During the school holidays, Andrew bicycles to ancient ruins in Sussex where he believes a statue of Pan which had been left behind by a Roman legion can be found. Such a discovery would enable him to publish and subsequently wed Letitia Fairchild, his fiance of five years, who insists he earn a promotion before she marries him. At the site he encounters the Gallini family traveling circus, which has been ordered to pack up and leave by the local police since the land is now property of dairy farmer Lord Elmwood. The five Gallini brothers and their cousin Selena mistake Andrew for a contractor, and when he tells them he doesnt mind if they remain, the Gallinis halt their pulling up stakes. Lord Elmwood arrives and threatens to remove both Andrew and the circus, but Andrew realizes hes a former fellow Oxford University student with a checkered romantic past. Chastened by Andrews subtle threat of blackmail, Lord Elmwood agrees to give Andrew and the Gallinis a week before he starts construction on the land.Shortly after he has begun his excavations, Andrew discovers an underground tunnel on the site and burrows through its ceiling and directly into the middle of the lion act during a performance. His amusingly masterful way with the animals impresses Selena, who tells him he is a born entertainer, and she teaches him to juggle. With ringmaster Antonio suffering from laryngitis, Andrew is coaxed into replacing him at the matinee. Unfortunately, Letitia and Andrews brother Dudley arrive to check on Andrews progress and decide to attend the circus, so Andrew is disguised as Antonio. Due to needing a lot of padding to fit into Antonios clothes, Andrew is given a RAF safety life jacket with a whistle, smoke and emergency flares all of which cause havoc in midspeech and marking Andrew as a natural clown. ........

Source: Wikipedia