The portmanteau format - putting a collection of stories together in one film - was rarely entirely successful at the box-office and so it proved with this offering. A shame really, because the stories are delightful and there's a cast of fine performers, including James Mason, Leslie Caron, Ethel Barrymore, Kirk Douglas and Farley Granger. The first story concerns a choreographer (Mason) and the tragic ballerina (Moira Shearer) for whom he writes a ballet. In the second tale a witch (Barrymore) grants a 12-year-old boy's wish to be grown up: shades of Big! ). He falls in love with his governess (Caron), but the spell is limited... In the third piece, a trapeze artist (Douglas) saves a young girl from drowning in the Seine and trains her to be his new partner. All three are well-written stories nicely woven together. The problem was that the public just wouldn't buy the package.

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