The Court Jester (1955)

I missed the first 15 minutes so I'm not sure exactly what the plot was. It deals with Danny Kaye disguising himself as a court jester to help a baby claim his rightful place as king of England. Helping him is a beautiful woman (Glynis Johns) and a princess (Angela Landsbury) who wants him as her husband...or else! There's also Basil Rathbone on hand being evil as only he can.Bright beautiful Technicolor, a fast pace and beautiful costumes are the main attraction here. Also seeing Johns and Landsbury so young and beautiful is interesting. The problem is Kaye and the script. I have nothing against Kaye but I didn't find him particularly funny and his song and dance numbers were terrible. Also some of the jokes were groaners--one was repeated FOUR TIMES! Still I watched it all and was entertained. This is best for kids who would probably love it.

This is an extremely funny movie, in all sorts of ways, from very broad humor to very clever word play - a lot of the latter. While the performances are uniformly first-rate and the directing keeps this movie moving, the real key to its quality is the script. It is full of brilliant tongue twisters - Danny Kaye's specialty - delivered not just with speed, but downright brilliance by the whole cast. "The vessel with the pestle" routine is first delivered by two other characters, and both do it masterfully. You have to listen carefully to some of the word play to catch just how clever it is, but it's definitely worth it.There's nothing profound here, but that doesn't matter. This movie laughs with the joy of the pleasure to be derived from playing intelligently with language. It shows what can be accomplished by making an effort to use language well, and cleverly, rather than just spouting whatever.Note Basil Rathbone's first-rate parody of his own performances as a medieval villain in such Warner Brother costume epics as The Adventures of Robin Hood. Rathbone was a great and very versatile actor. He is as great in sending himself up as he was in the roles he parodies.

Very enjoyable spoof of the swashbuckling genre with Danny Kaye in effervescent form in the lead role. It's colourful, with sumptuous sets and costumery to the fore, romantic, with a young Angela Lansbury and the fetching Glynis Johns as the competing love interest for our hapless hero, occasionally, well you wouldn't say exciting, but eventful with Kaye squaring off against the old despicable villain in so many of this type of film, Basil Rathbone and last but not least, certainly it's highly amusing.Kaye plays his part with athleticism, impressively given his age but of course it's his buffoonery which is the main attraction. Whether under a witch's hypnotic spell, making him brave at the snap of a finger, engaging in customary hilarious tongue-twisting confusion (it took me some time, but I think I now know in which goblet the pellet with the poison is) or engaging in the climactic sword-fight with Rathbone at the end, he's great value all round.There are some fine songs too, particularly "Outfox the Fox" and "The Maladjusted Jester" wittily written by Sammy Cahn and of course a happy ending with no-one really hurt or killed in action. His rapid-fire patter invariably draws a smile too ("Get it?" "Got it" "Good").I appreciate that Kaye's brand of clowning humour is hit-or-miss with some people but he usually makes me laugh and this is definitely one of his best parts in an affectionate tribute to the ghosts of Flynn, Power, Grainger and others...

Few films so I left good impression on children as this which he stars, Danny Kaye, with so much grace and charm. His colorful setting, as effective as the best fairy tale, the elegant costumes that glow in each character, and his humorous situations, amid all the hubbub for putting on the throne to the rightful heir and bring the same to the licentious usurper fully entertained me and made me crave years later to see her again and hopefully have it in my files. And now, the liberal target, the occasion provided me nicely, I see with eyes full of nostalgia, as it preserves the visual magic and much of the charm of this pleasant film. And I have never laugh laughter with "hard" evidence for knighthood to our beloved buffoon. He also smiled at length with the fight at the Palace between the king's men and the Lilliputians of the forest. And I enjoyed the best with a delicious tangle of the pill in the cup with mortar.The film is still without objection, although, at times - now that adults play at being analytical -, we have to pretend to be a blind eye to the simplicity with which certain situations are resolved. But in a comedy, sustainable thesis is always permissive, and one does not repair, so hard, if the output of the hero is because of his wit or excessive clumsiness imposed on their rivals. "THE COURT JESTER", get get us full in his colorful scenery and much appreciated in the intricacies of impersonating a buffoon who was expected as a calculating murderer. We look forward to the barefoot Jean (an attractive Glynnis Johns) eager to help the commoner than has been in love. Again we prepare for the cold and cruel stratagems of Basil Rathbone, the adversary par excellence of so many heroes swordsmen. And Angela Lansbury, very young, very graceful looks like Princess Gwendoline, a man eager for the start of forced marriage to being prepared.Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the duo director of this film - and some others as "Above and Beyond" or "Knock on wood" - is here, for us, is perhaps his best, his work as writers discounted where harvested various successes. Her spark for irony, for the visual humor and more accommodating to the atmosphere, is very thinly settled here.