THREE RING CIRCUS (1954)

Tame a lion. Get shot out of a cannon. Wash an elephant. Jerrico will do anything to become a circus clown.

Jerry Hotchkiss (Jerry Lewis) and Pete Nelson (Dean Martin), army buddies, join a circus after they’ve been discharged from the service. Jerry is so anxious to become a clown that he takes a job as assistant to the lion tamer of the Big Top, just to get a foot in the door. Pete joins the circus, too, as a handy man, not only to be with his friend but because his finances are depleted.