The elephant Mary shipped to Italy

The elephant Mary shipped to Italy

Mary in a crate

The year that changes everything is 1948. The director Orson Welles, who was shooting a film in Rome with the participation of Alberto, introduces him to John Ringling North. He is looking for European talents to hire for his Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He not only offers Alberto a job but also a role in the film The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) by the American director Cecil B. DeMille. They absolutely wanted him to relocate him to the United States to participate in the film. Alberto was doing very well in Italy and had no intention of moving and at their first meeting he said so. However, Alberto realized that John Ringling had forty-two elephants in his circus, while in Italy the animals were rare. Alberto said to Ringling that if they wanted him to go to work in America, he would have to send one of their elephants to his circus in Italy to “replace him”. In the interview, when recalling this conversation with Ringling, Alberto says that when John heard this, he laughed and almost fell down off his chair.