The Court Jester (1955)

If you can watch this movie without laughing, please seek immediate medical attention -- you may not have a pulse!

Much is made of Danny Kaye's outstanding performance in this film; it is clearly his best. Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury, and Mildred Natwick also do some of their finest work.

A word about the writing: this is not an adlib fest, a la Robin Williams. It is not a cornucopia of bodily functions, as in "Something about Mary." What it is, is a finely crafted example of comic writing that meshes like a fine Swiss watch. But you'll hardly notice as the cast and script click, because you'll be laughing too hard.

Note: "Princess Bride" aside, this movie also contains the finest swordplay ever captured on film.

Fmovies: This film was Danny Kaye's biggest success as a musical comedy. Set in Medieval England, it followed the career of would-be "Robin Hood" type, Hubert Hawkins, who is one of the peasants determined to overturn the tyrannical regime of King Roderick (Cecil Parker) and Lord Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone). Hubert is a master (?) of disguise - witness his impersonation of "Fotheringay, the wine merchant" who has an annoying catarrh. He replaces a visiting court jester from Italy named Giacomo (John Carridine, regretfully in a cameo performance only). Using this role he invades the castle of King Roderick, not realizing that Giacomo is not only Italy's greatest jester, but it's leading hired assassin - and that Ravenhurst has sent for him to get rid of his competition to solidify his political power and to aim at marrying the Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury). Hubert's girlfriend Maid Jean (Glynis Johns) is on hand to try to assist, only to watch as Princess Gwendolyn finds the "jester" attractive - and when Hubert is hypnotized by Gwendolyn's sorceress maid Griselda (Mildred Natwick) he becomes - well a dashing swordsman and adventurer, like the real Giacomo...so long as he does not snap his fingers! Kaye had some delightful dialog, particularly with Rathbone as straight man - such as the alliteration in the "Summary Line" between them, and in their mad duel scene, where a briefly arrogant Hubert calls Ravenhurst a "Ratcatcher". Of course the best bits are the description of the (apparently) mutually fatal confrontation of the Doge of Venice, the Duke, and the Dutchess, and the business of the pellet with the poison in the various goblet, flagons, and chalices (which eventually Kaye shares with an equally tongue tied Sir Griswold (Robert Middleton). Parker, a usurper who seems ruthless like Richard III but is far more easily befuddled (watch how Johns handles him when he makes a play for her), is quite amusing. The film never flags (a problem with some of Kaye's comedies at times), and deserves it's position as his best work.

A supremely wacky and delightful Danny Kaye comedy.

Kaye plays a court jester impostor who infiltrates a king's court in order to put in motion a plan hatched by a scrappy band of Robin Hoodesque rebels who want to depose the tyrant and put the rightful heir on the throne. Unfortunately for Kaye, but fortunately for us, the plot is not as simple as it sounds, not when a traitor in the king's court (Basil Rathbone) has formulated his own plan to have the jester assassinate the king, and especially not when the king's saucy daughter (Angela Lansbury) has set her sights on marrying the jester as a way to avoid having to marry a rival king with whom her father wants to forge an alliance.

Kaye is absolutely hysterical, whether he's singing and dancing a big production number with a band of midgets or jousting with a rival knight while wearing a magnetized suit of armor. Glynis Johns plays a member of Kaye's merry band with whom Kaye has fallen in love, and Mildred Natwick plays the witch Griselda, who at one point tries to help Kaye poison a rival by explaining that the pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle while the chalice with the palace has the brew that is true.

Grade: A-

The Court Jester fmovies. The Court Jester (1956) is a superlative, priceless treasure of the 20th Century. This classic tale combines several grand legends such as Robin Hood, Giacomo, and Dartagnan's Daughter with the more base nobility of the little baby's royal birthmark. (Once seen, it is impossible to forget the repetitive flipping scene used to obtain more converts.)

Everyone should by now know the plot: once the hapless carnival entertainer Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye) assumes the identity of the new court jester Giacomo (who happens to well deserve his reputation as a skillful assassin), Hawkins is thrown into one court intrigue after another, each beyond his control or understanding.

As the socially powerless court jester, Hawkins has to survive not only accidents and royal petulance, but deliberate attempts at his execution as part of court intrigue.

So I won't waste time recapping all that.

Instead, I'd like to mention the still potent generation gap politics and gender politics that routinely consumed the weakest of mediaeval society, sometimes court jesters, or often just women.

King Roderick has a rather cynical and self-possessed daughter in the Princess Gwendolyn (a shockingly young and beautiful Angela Lansbury), whom he nastily views as more a threat than a loved one, and their war of wills is hilarious. But he needs her alive because he has no male heir, so Gwendolyn regularly threatens suicide whenever she doesn't want to do something: "Harm one hair on her head, and I throw myself from the highest turret", she announces when her father tries to get rid of Gwendolyn's nanny.

The king schemes to get his daughter out of the castle by marrying her off "way up North" to the "grim and grizzly, gruesome Griswold".

Of course, she has no intention of going. "I am the King. If it pleases me, you will marry Griswold", he tries to command her. "-If it pleases you so much, you marry Griswold!" retorts his witty daughter.

Gwendolyn has a nanny/personal confidant in Grizelda (Mildred Natwick), the "witch" (actually a scientist, they just didn't have a word for that yet), who has raised the Princess to believe in more girlish romance, partly to soften up Gwendolyn's belligerent cynicism. Unfortunately, with such a brutal horse-trade as her proposed marriage to Sir Griswold of Macklewein, girlish fancies of romance are starting to fly out the window of Gwendolyn's heart, and she matter-of-factly threatens Grizelda with a dirk (a small dagger) if "the witch" can't arrange a better alternative.

Desperate to save both their lives, Grizelda (look, she ain't no witch. She has pills and potions. That makes her a chemist, alright?) pulls out every trick in her book. She first proffers the court jester as a romantic alternative to the princess, and then mesmerizes him to make sure he courts the princess as ardently as the princess wants. Grizelda's hypnosis of "Giacomo" imbues him with super-confidence, so he CAN fight for his life as well as Gwendolyn's hand. Mildred Natwick obviously had a terrific time pretend-hypnotizing Danny Kaye. "Master, you can snap me in and snap me out", he drools at her; and later, Kaye's impeccable talents at physical comedy have him jerking to every unconscious snap of everyone's fingers.

However, Hawkins is already in love with the only woman from their guerilla group back in the forest, Capt. Je

Not much goes wrong with this movie, a delightful spoof of action-costumer movies. Danny Kaye is an absolute delight as the young rebel impersonating a jester in the court of an evil king (although in this film, his evil is blunted) but mistaken for a hit man. There have been few performers who could light up an entire scene by their mere presence, and Kaye is one of them. Who in this day could do what he did? He could sing, he could dance, and he could make you laugh so hard you could only take liquids the next day. And in this movie he gets a chance to do all three, plus do some swashbuckling! Also along for the ride are the elegant Glynis Johns, who plays his superior in the slight rebel force trying to return the throne to its rightful owner, and Basil Rathbone, who could play the clever, suave cad as good as anyone in movies. Film buffs may remember Rathbone's turn as the Sheriff of Nottingham in 1939's "The Adventures of Robin Hood," which starred the eminent Errol Flynn. In that movie, Rathbone has a memorable sword-fighting scene with Flynn; here, that scene is copied, with Kaye a hilarious stand-in for Errol. This movie is a true delight, a must-see for all ages.

"The Court Jester" is a terrifically funny movie, with a wonderfully complicated comic/adventure story, memorable characters, and outstanding dialogue. It also offers a great showcase for star Danny Kaye's many talents.

The story is a nicely done comic version of the Robin Hood-type adventure tales. Kaye is one of a band of rebels hiding out in a forest, led by "The Black Fox", who are opposing an evil king who has usurped the throne. Their secret plan to restore the rightful king involves having Kaye impersonate the evil king's new court jester, so that he can gain the monarch's confidence. But even as the rebels plot, the king's own nobles are maneuvering for advantage amongst themselves, some with murderous intent. The question of whom the king's daughter should marry also comes into play. The early part of the film moves somewhat slowly as all of this is established, but then things get delightfully complicated, and the laughs and adventure both start coming quickly. There are several outstanding sequences, and a fittingly wild sword fight finale.

The cast is filled with outstanding actors - Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury, and many others - who make their characters entertaining and memorable. The dialogue is terrific, and the cast does justice to it every time. The story and the medieval setting also make a great showcase for Kaye's varied talents such as singing, dancing, role-playing, and his other comic gifts.

All of this makes "The Court Jester" a wonderful and timeless film, great comic entertainment done with exceptional skill and talent. Don't miss it.