But the film doesn't rely just on catch-phrases for humour, with the afore-mentioned witty verbal jokes, and some beautifully choreographed slap-stick that shows just how talented a performer Danny Kaye was. I thought the catch-phrase was a fairly modern phenomenon, but The Court Jester proves me wrong, with its 'Get it? Got it? Good' line repeated by Kaye several times throughout the run. Fortunately these are impressive enough to make up for any plot confusions or inconsistencies. At times it feels that the writers are just throwing too much into the mix to try and make something stick, but fortunately this is not a big problem because the plot is merely a small hook to hang the songs, the comedy and Kaye's performance on. The plot, such as it is, is all over the place, with farce being the main element, and twists and turns that make you think the 'hero' is never going to get his girl and defeat the villain. The songs featured here put the modern trait of just taking established tunes and reworking them, to shame, and show just how poor a job is being done by the likes of Elton John and Tim Rice when compared with the old masters Norman Frank and Norman Panama. The camerawork is admittedly very static and rather dated, but if you can ignore that and listen for the witty verbal wordplay, and wonderful pastiches of great genre movies of the time, you're in for a treat. Watch how the name of the 'lead' actor Basil Rathbone, playing the evil King Roderick, keeps making a re-appearance, no matter how often Kaye's jester tries to push it off the stage. The whole thing's beautifully cut together and performed, with some wonderfully subtle jokes I didn't catch until watching the film for a second time to grab some screencaps. The fun starts with the title sequence, which is a fast-moving romp of clever lyrics and song, performed while Danny Kaye, in jester costume, flips around the titles that keep intruding on his performance area.
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It's a movie that has real 'jokes' in it - 'jokes' I've heard repeated in many films/TV series made since - and a film that demonstrates that Monty Python weren't the inventors of the sort of zany kind of comedy I love, after all. The truth is that The Court Jester is an absolute hoot.
However, watching The Court Jester more than 50 years after it was made, I may be forced to re-evaluate my dislike of Kaye.
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I, on the other hand, am not - I have too many TV memories of the sort of 'stupid' behaviour that really annoyed me as a kid, and which annoys me even more as an adult when the likes of Jack Black, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn take it to the next, even more irritating, level. The Court Jester is a Danny Kaye film from 1955, a sort of musical spoof of 1936's Robin Hood (which I have on a stunning transfer on HD-DVD and must get around to viewing!) and is regarded by many as Danny Kaye's finest film.īrian was quoting the rhyming lines above because he is a big Danny Kaye fan. The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.".īrian Sibley's quoting of some rhyme from The Court Jester, just a few weeks ago, drew a complete blank from me, so it seems very fortuitous that a new DVD release of a 'classic' film I've never seen should become available just a week or two later.
No, The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon.
"The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle.
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