The film was the most expensive comedy film ever produced upon its release, and it completely crashed at the box office. One of his all-time great features is the 1955 musical adventure-comedy The Court Jester from Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, who just so happened to have also written White Christmas. While that film holds a sentimental place in the hearts of many, there are numerous roles that better represent the amazing talent he possessed. If you ask the average person about Danny Kaye, there is a decent chance you will hear about White Christmas, if you hear about anything at all. All in all, it’s a solid old-school Hollywood distraction the way they were always intended to be.There are certain performers from the Golden Age of Hollywood who modern audiences do not appreciate as much as they should because many of their most notable contributions have been forgotten. Plus, you get to see another legend, Basil Rathbone, acting despicable and showing off his sword fighting skills. It’s got something for everyone with its miscellaneous method of advancing the plot through songs, dance routines, tongue twisting sessions, and slapstick scenes. Today, it’s a great way to look back on one of the funniest movies from the career of a Hollywood comic legend. In a way, it’s this sort of word play that acted as a forerunner for more modern comedies like Blazing Saddles and, fittingly, Robin Hood: Men in Tights.Īt the time it was made, The Court Jester was the most expensive comedy ever made with a whopping budget of $4 million. Perhaps the most famous scene involves Danny Kaye performing the tongue twister: “The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.” This line continues to get muddled, especially when the chalice from the palace breaks and is replaced by a flagon with a dragon etched on it. And a band of little people that save the day. Oh, and a dash of cheese-tastic harlequin romance. With most comedies that were still reveling in the world of Vaudeville despite three decades of separation, The Court Jester throws the kitchen sink at the audience – people bursting into songs randomly, cases of mistaken identity, a witch that hypnotizes Hubert, tongue twisters, instrumental interludes, marching routines, sword fights, catapults, acrobatic feats, and classic slapstick gags.
If you’re at all surprised by that – as I was when I first saw it – keep in mind that it was made when she was only thirty years old, and she pulls off the buxom-maiden role to perfection.
THE COURT JESTER DANNY FREE
This also leaves him free to fall for the beautiful Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), the real brain behind most of the operation, and to romance the King’s daughter, Princess Gwendolyn – the aforementioned hot Angela Lansbury. The enigmatic Black Fox – which Hubert is accused of being several times – only shows up in true form randomly throughout the story which leaves Hubert on his own most of the time to fumble his way to victory. If you’re seeing the Robin Hood story, you’re spot on, but think of The Court Jester as a Robin Hood tale with no Robin Hood.
Hubert achieves this by impersonating the King’s new court jester, Giacomo The King of Jesters, and subsequently gets into a slew of hilarious situations leading up to The Black Fox’s men storming the castle to overthrow the evil reign of the false king. Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye) is a devil-may-care carnival performer who falls in with a band of outlaws led by The Black Fox (Edward Ashley) and soon finds himself with the task of bringing the rightful heir to the throne – a small infant – across enemy lines into the court of the vicious King Roderick (Cecil Parker).
THE COURT JESTER DANNY MOVIE
Still in the vein of classic, Golden Age Hollywood, it’s a movie that includes and moves beyond the elements of several genres, so even though it’s labeled a comedy, it’s probably closer to an action-comedy-romance-musical-farce. In The Court Jester, Kaye gets to use the entire range of his talents in the sort of manic display that many 50s comedies turned out to be. Despite only appearing in two dozen films, his roles in White Christmas, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Hans Christian Andersen secured his iconic status. This week, Old Ass Movies presents:ĭespite his title role in the film, Danny Kaye was a king of cinema in his prime. Every Sunday, Film School Rejects presents a movie that was made before you were born and tells you why you should like it.
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