The Court Jester (1955)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Plucky carnival performer Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye) poses as an Italian court jester/assassin as part of a desperate plot to depose wicked King Roderick I (Cecil Parker), who has taken the throne by force (the rightful heir being an infant who bears a purple pimpernel on his posterior).The Court Jester kicks off with a nifty title sequence in which its star Danny Kaye, dressed in a jester costume, sings an amusing song while interacting with the credits as they appear on screen; it's an ingenious and meticulously choreographed way to start what proves to be an inventive and fun adventure throughout.Kaye gets to give his comedy muscles a thorough workout with clever wordplay and physical buffoonery aplenty, and he is joined by a magnificent cast that includes Basil Rathbone (whose name deservedly appears during the credits three times), the lovely Glynis Johns (as Hubert's love interest Jean), Angela Lansbury (looking foxy in medieval princess garb), and horror icon John Carradine.Admittedly, the complexities of the plot do tend to make matters a little hard to follow at times, but with so many classic moments, the best being the unforgettable 'vessel with the pestle' tongue-twister scene, it matters not if you get a little lost in the process. After the final act, during which Kaye swashes buckles with Rathbone while a team of acrobatic midgets storm the castle, there's a very good chance that you'll be the one grinning like a fool.

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...

This is one of the better Kate vehicles, one that remains watchable half a century later. It features most, if not all, of the Kaye schtick; the tongue-twisters, the mugging, the balladeering - in this case a lullaby - all the stuff in fact that tends to grate when the earlier - 40s - movies surface on TV. It helps, of course, that Basil Radford is on hand as chief villain. Radford was, hands down, the finest swordsman in Hollywood ( fencer, for the pedants, though I accept that Radford's old opponent Errol Flynn was a swordsman in both senses of the word) and more could have been made of the final showdown between him and Kaye instead of aborting the duel via catapult. The plot was old when Cain was lining up Abel in his cross-hairs but no one really notices. Sammy Cahn weighed in with some fine (sorry about that, Sylvia) lyrics with Mrs Kaye, Slyvia Fine, restricted to music only with the exception of The Maladjusted Jester, John Carradine appeared all too briefly as the real Giacomo and all in all a good time was had by all.

Plushly-produced, well-directed and cast spoofing of knights and swordsmen spectacles has a disparate forest tribe in medieval England opposing the royal kingdom, sending Danny Kaye into the castle as an infiltrator under the guise of a jester. Fairly smart comedic vehicle for Danny allows the star to shine in several funny set-pieces despite a script which loses tracks of its own sub-plots. The celebrated "chalice from the palace" routine is nearly rendered inconsequential when nothing is ever done with the chalice, however the infrequent songs are amusingly interspersed with the action and the supporting players (including wonderful Glynis Johns as Maid Jean, Basil Rathbone and Angela Lansbury) are very colorful. Energetic without being frantic, and memorably pleasant. **1/2 from ****