The Main Attraction (1962)

Eddie, an American drifter currently working his way through Italy as a singer, is running away from himself. He doesn't like himself, which makes others not like him, which is one reason he gets fired from job after job. When he's fired from his latest job, he's discovered by Gina, who wants him to be the straight man, the singer, in her ventriloquist act in a traveling circus. She eventually lets him know that he is just the latest of her assistants and she expects him to be by her side both on stage and in her bedroom. The circus is owned and operated by Rico and Elleanora Marino, who along with her younger sister Tessa also have a combination trick riding/acrobat act. As Elleanora now requires arm braces to walk, the permanent disability the result of an onstage accident, Tessa, who is just reaching her womanhood, has taken over most of the physically demanding and risky female tricks in the act. An easy rapport and eventual friendship forms between Eddie and Tessa, which does not sit well with either Gina who does not take kindly to what she believes is Eddie's romantic interest in Tessa, and Rico, who sees in Tessa more than just a surrogate little sister and who sees Eddie solely as Gina's latest trash. In addition, Eddie learns that "Bozo", one of the circus clowns, is Gina's ex-husband whom he believes still has all kinds of interest in her. As Eddie and Tessa each try to escape this complicated situation, Eddie might discover that he really does like himself--as he ends up in a potentially life-threatening situation from running away.