Fearless Fagan (1952)

When a circus clown (Carleton Carpenter) is inducted into the army, he brings his beloved pet lion Fagan along and hides him in a forest near the army base. When the lion is exposed by an unsympathetic actress (Janet Leigh) visiting the base, he must find a home for the lion or risk the lion being put down. Directed by Stanley Donen (7 BRIDES FOR 7 BROTHERS), this true story (with lots of leeway for dramatic license) was based on a Life magazine article called FEARLESS FAGAN FINDS A HOME. Here, Fagan gets to play himself and he's a movie natural. The kiddies may be amused by it but I suspect it's rough going for most adults, even animal lovers like myself. It descends into sentimentalism toward the end. Carpenter scored in TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE singing Abba Dabba Honeymoon with Debbie Reynolds so MGM attempted to build him up by bumping him up to leading man roles but the public didn't bite. With Keenan Wynn, Richard Anderson, Barbara Ruick and Ellen Corby.