Fixer Dugan

Lee Tracy stars in the title role of Fixer Dugan, barker and all around handyman at a circus who thinks very fast on his feet and has a broad streak of conman in him. The part fits Tracy better than the glove that fitted OJ.

Top billed act is wire walker Rita LeRoy who's none too happy when lion tamer Peggy Shannon joins the circus. They have a rivalry like Davis and Crawford. But when LeRoy is killed, Shannone takes an interest in raising her daughter Virginia Weidler now left an orphan. Of course Tracy will help, but Shannon has some concern about the values he's imparting.

Shannon has her own problems as her former boss and rival circus owner Vinton Hayworth is trying to pull a fast one and attach the lions she works with in her act. And there are the juvenile authorities concerned about the atmosphere where Weidler is being raised.

Made on a budget at RKO that probably would have covered one of the salaries of the cast of The Greatest Show On Earth, this film has a nice quiet charm to it and in its own way is as good a circus film as DeMille's heralded spectacle.

One thing that I thought was colossally stupid was when Weidler went into the lion's cage to warn Shannon about Hayworth. If she had been raised around a circus she would know better than that. Still it was a hard and almost fatal lesson to learn. But Tracy milked it for all it was worth.

Fixer Dugan still holds up well and is highly recommended for family audiences.