{"id":12821,"date":"2010-10-13T18:36:13","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T01:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12821"},"modified":"2020-12-31T10:40:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-31T17:40:19","slug":"court-jester-the-1955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12821","title":{"rendered":"Court Jester, The (1955)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to get in, get on with it, get it over with, and get out. Get it?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-60647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster-208x300.jpg 208w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster-709x1024.jpg 709w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster-89x128.jpg 89w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster-768x1109.jpg 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster-1063x1536.jpg 1063w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster-187x270.jpg 187w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Court-Jester-Poster.jpg 1246w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA lowly performer (Danny Kaye) helps a revolutionary maiden (Glynis Johns) restore the rightful heir &#8212; a baby with a purple pimpernel birth mark &#8212; to the throne of England by going undercover as a court jester.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Angela Lansbury Films<\/li>\n<li>Basil Rathbone Films<\/li>\n<li>Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Danny Kaye Films<\/li>\n<li>Glynis Johns Films<\/li>\n<li>John Carradine Films<\/li>\n<li>Mind Control and Hypnosis<\/li>\n<li>Mistaken Identities<\/li>\n<li>Musicals<\/li>\n<li>Royalty and Nobility<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAlong with his title roles in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12702\"><em>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty<\/em> (1947)<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=13010\"><em>Hans Christian Andersen<\/em> (1952)<\/a>, Danny Kaye is probably best known for his performance in this spoof of Robin Hood-era swashbucklers. As in most of his other films, Kaye is cast here as a mild-mannered nebbish who is suddenly thrust into a world of excitement and danger, and must call upon inner resources to help save the day (all while tentatively romancing a beautiful leading lady &#8212; in this case, Glynis Johns). I find the film on the whole not all that amusing or particularly inventive, but there are some enjoyable sequences &#8212; most memorably, of course, Kaye&#8217;s confusion over a &#8220;vessel with a pestle&#8221; and a &#8220;chalice from the palace&#8221;, one of which is poisonous and the other of which contains &#8220;brew that is true&#8221;. This lively scene is indicative of the film&#8217;s overall infectious sense of wordplay &#8212; as in the following exchange (Kaye&#8217;s tongue is limber indeed!):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\nThe Duchess dove at the Duke just when the Duke dove at the Doge. Now the Duke ducked, the Doge dodged, and the Duchess didn&#8217;t. So the Duke got the Duchess, the Duchess got the Doge, and the Doge got the Duke! <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Watch for Angela Lansbury, Basil Rathbone, Mildred Natwick, and John Carradine (among others) in nicely turned supporting roles.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Danny Kaye as Hubert Hawkins<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/court-jester-kaye.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/court-jester-kaye.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12824\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Glynis Johns as Maid Jean<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/court-jester-johns.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/court-jester-johns.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12825\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The justifiably famous &#8220;pestle in the vessel&#8221; sequence<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/court-jester-pestle.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/court-jester-pestle.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12826\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The amusing final swashbuckling encounter between Kaye and Rathbone\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes. While <em>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty<\/em> remains my favorite Kaye film, <em>The Court Jester<\/em> is beloved by many, and should be seen at least once by all film fanatics.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049096\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/4501\/the-court-jester#articles-reviews?articleId=99293\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/cour.html\">Greatest Films Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?_r=1&#038;res=9E0CE6DA143EE333A05751C0A9649C946792D6CF\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d like to get in, get on with it, get it over with, and get out. Get it?&#8221; Synopsis: A lowly performer (Danny Kaye) helps a revolutionary maiden (Glynis Johns) restore the rightful heir &#8212; a baby with a purple pimpernel birth mark &#8212; to the throne of England by going undercover as a court jester. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Angela Lansbury Films Basil Rathbone Films Comedy Danny Kaye Films Glynis Johns Films John Carradine Films Mind Control and&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=12821\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12821"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60648,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12821\/revisions\/60648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}