Editing Emmett Kelly (section)

==Return to Hollywood==
In 1949, after a charity circus performance in Los Angeles, Emmett was approached by an agent representing [[David O. Selznick]]. On October 8, while Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey was in [[Tucson, Arizona]], Kelly signed an exclusive one-year contract.<ref>Louella Parsons, "Selznick Signs Circus Clown Emmett Kelly", ''San Francisco Examiner'', October 20, 1949, p. 15.</ref>
 
At the age of 51, the idea of starting a new career in motion pictures appealed to Kelly, and when the circus closed in [[Miami, Florida]] on November 25, he immediately left for California and [[Hollywood, California|Hollywood]].<ref>Bob Thomas, "Clowning is Serious Business", ''The Baltimore Evening Sun'', August 9, 1950, p. 38.</ref>

In the months that followed various ideas were pitched, until finally he was given a script based on a radio mystery series titled ''The Fat Man.'' In the film, Kelly would be cast as the villain. Although the idea intrigued him, as he read the script, he became concerned. The storyline called for the character to murder three people, then take money that he had stolen from one of the victims and start a circus where he would hide behind his clown makeup. And they wanted Emmett to appear in the film as Willie.

The idea of turning his beloved character into a murderer was unacceptable.  The producer and director of the film agreed that the killer should not depict the same character that Emmett had spent his career developing. In its review of the film, ''[[The New York Times]]'', praised Kelly's acting ability and noted, "As the ex-convict clown, Mr. Kelly herein demonstrates that circus rings need not be his sole field."<ref>"The Fat Man Turns to Films", ''The New York Times'', May 25, 1951, p. L-31.</ref>

Following the release of ''[[The Fat Man (film)|The Fat Man]]'', Kelly's agent reached out to [[Cecil B. DeMille]] who was in Sarasota filming early scenes for ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (film)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]''. The circus allowed Emmett to leave the tour for 15 weeks so that he could join [[James Stewart]] and [[Betty Hutton]] on the [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] backlot. Unlike his featured role in ''The Fat Man'', Kelly speaks only one word in the DeMille epic. In the middle of the train wreck scene, Hutton told Emmett to get the clowns ready for the parade, and Kelly responded, "Parade?" According to Emmett, it took two takes to get it right.{{Sfn|Kelly|1954|p=251}}

Willie appeared in several other scenes that were shot on the Hollywood soundstage, including a number with Hutton and Stewart where the three bounced on a trampoline. In the scene Willie unsuccessfully tried to eat a sandwich as Stewart and Hutton sang the song "Be a Jumping Jack."
 
Emmett said that his favorite scene in the film was the segment that showed him playing solitaire on top of a wagon as the circus paraded through the streets of Sarasota. As Willie placed his cards down, his game was interrupted by a sudden gust of wind. Emmett said the effect was accomplished by the blast of an air hose as he played cards against a yellow screen. The special effect was then matched against the parade sequence that had been filmed in February before the season started.{{Sfn|Kelly|1954|p=251}}

Although Kelly accompanied the Hollywood cast to [[Washington, D.C.]] and [[Philadelphia]] for the scenes filmed there, the only scenes where he appeared under canvas were during a clown walkaround, the Zoppe riding act, and the aerial ballet. In the big production number filmed on May 22, 1951, Willie strummed a ukulele as [[Dorothy Lamour]] sang "Lovely Luawana Lady". The rest of his scenes were filmed at Paramount in Hollywood.{{Sfn|Kelly|1954|p=251}}