Movie Bombed - The Court Jester (1956) Discussion

[–] AndiCheetah99 18 years ago

If it bombed in '56, why does the American Masters tribute to Danny Kaye list it as one of his major works? I dont know the exact site where it says that, Google Danny Kaye and look for americanmasters as part of the thing. American masters is part of PBS. Why, according to Danny Kaye's bio on this very site, did people for hte rest of his life come up to him and recite the pellet with the poison speech? Why, whenever I mention Danny Kaye to people from that generation, THEY immediately start spouting "pellet with the poison"? I'm not pointing a finger of accusation (though it may sound that way), but where did you hear this?

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[–] PlascenciaCar 18 years ago

SORRYY JEEZ! Well, maybe my sources are incorrect. Actually they probably ARE incorrect. Or maybe I missread it. It was on Wikipedia.org Just type in The Court Jester and you should get the article right away. (this is what I get for trusting a source that many articles change on a daily basis). Ah well. . . I could be wrong. Not the first time.

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[–] ninthcentury 9 years ago

Because anyone's Great Oeuvre can bomb, but it's still a Great Oeuvre.

Both of you can be correct.

"Oooo, lookee, a Sneerfest I can jump in on!!!"

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[–] classicmoviecomedy 18 years ago

It's not that is isn't a great comedy, but from what I've read it was very expensive to produce and was only a flop in the sense that it didn't make its cost back. But I agree it is a masterpiece. Then again, many great comedies flopped at the box office-THE GENERAL, IT'S A GIFT and DUCK SOUP among them.

Matt

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[–] xylonian-1 18 years ago

"Ah well. . . I could be wrong. Not the first time."

Good points....The opera "Carmen", for example... was a total flop when it came out....

"The most detestable habit of Lilliputian minds is to suppose that others are equally petty."

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[–] rnixon1 18 years ago

It's a Wonderful Life was a flop when it came out. Now it is a classic!

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[–] dragonakakris 16 years ago

It's still a bomb....*shudders*

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[–] Jerome-Springer 15 years ago

how refreshing to see someone else didn't care for "It's a Wonderful Life"! Everyone looks at me strange when I say I do not like that film.

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[–] rollieri 13 years ago

It's a Wonderful Life is another example of a picture that didn't become a classic until it went into Public Domain. Capra's independent company, Liberty Films, had gone bankrupt some years before. Since it cost nothing to screen, and anyone could have a print, it was colorized and shown on every TV station in existence around Xmas time. Only then did it become a beloved Xmas "classic".

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[–] ninthcentury 9 years ago

it was colorized and shown on every TV station in existence around Xmas time.

Because, as you said, it was free for the local station to run it. The very first year it became Public Domain, every station in Los Angeles (where I lived) ran it and publicized it as "That great Classic, everyone's favorite Christmas movie" when exactly NO ONE had ever heard of it.

I don't like it, either. Love Stewart, love the angel, don't love the plot or the writing.

"Oooo, lookee, a Sneerfest I can jump in on!!!"

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[–] laxlon 11 years ago

I didn't like "Forrest Gump"

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[–] Cocktailsfor2 9 years ago

Nor I.

What a terribly overrated film.

______________________________________
"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."

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[–] grizzledgeezer 10 years ago

Let's not forget that The Wizard of Oz was, box-office-wise, a bomb. It wasn't until the '50s that it finally broke even.

Need I say that a film's finances have nothing to do with its ultimate popularity or critical evaluation?

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[–] asiavou 18 years ago

The Wizard of Oz bombed at first too!

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[–] wallerworld 17 years ago

>Wizard of Oz bombed...

That's an urban myth. The film was a hit, but so expensive, that it didn't make its money back until re-released later. MGM intended it to be a "prestige" picture, basically a loss-leader, designed to give luster to its overall product that year.

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[–] rollieri 13 years ago

Court Jester certainly wasn't a "bomb"! This term is often misused today. The economics of movies are totally different now. In the time of the multiplex films are pulled from theatre screens immediately if they underperform. Years ago a movie had afterlives in neighborhood theatres and could build a following. I saw Court Jester at a kiddie matinee in NJ when I was eight or nine and it was immensely popular and the theatre, which in those days was a huge former stage house with a giant balcony was nearly full. The balconies were never full since only neckers and weirdoes sat there.

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[–] rollieri 13 years ago

Wizard of Oz wasn't a hit! It underperformed and indeed lost money due to the expense of three-color Technicolor and many other cost overrruns. It wasn't until ABC ran it in 1959 on Thanksgiving, and kept showing it annually that a whole generation of kids made it a classic. MGM didn't realize its appeal and mismarketed it as another GWTW type movie and overcharged for what was really mainly a kids picture. No-one wanted to take a whole family to a picture at "prestige" prices.

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[–] jbacks3 10 years ago

The Wizard of Oz did indeed bomb. Hal Wallis complained about it for years afterwards, swearing he'd never put a dime of his own money in another picture. Ironically, it was Danny Kaye that helped "rehabilitate" the picture... he hosted the annual TV viewing for years that became a ritual around my house in the early 60's...

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[–] rollieri 13 years ago

Wizard of Oz wasn't a hit! It underperformed and indeed lost money due to the expense of three-color Technicolor and many other cost overrruns. It wasn't until ABC ran it in 1959 on Thanksgiving, and kept showing it annually that a whole generation of kids made it a classic. MGM didn't realize its appeal and mismarketed it as another GWTW type movie and overcharged for what was really mainly a kids picture. No-one wanted to take a whole family to a picture at "prestige" prices.

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[–] wallerworld 13 years ago

According to Wikipedia, The Wizard of Oz "grossed approximately $3 million (equal to $47,437,500 today) against production/distribution costs of $2.8 million (equal to $44,275,000 today) in its initial release. It did not show what MGM considered a large profit until a 1949 re-release earned an additional $1.5 million (equal to $13,819,327.73 today)."

The first television broadcast of "Oz" was in 1956 on CBS. Beginning in 1959, CBS showed it once a year. In 1968, NBC aired it annually until the mid 1970s, when CBS again won the rights. In 1998, Turner began showing it on cable, ending the film's reign on broadcast TV. (It was never aired on ABC.)

We've gotten off-topic here. Suggest we get back to talking about The Court Jester.

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[–] NjSa 17 years ago

lots of films considered masterpieces now bombed when they first came out, so it doesnt surprise me... a great example of this is bringing up baby

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[–] NSurone 16 years ago

I hope and pray that I go to my reward before any of today's movie crap are considered "classics".

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[–] piratelover71 16 years ago

The Court Jester was way ahead of it's time, so I do believe it may have been a flop at the Box Office.

These be the last friendly words ye'll hear! Ye may not survive to pass this way again.

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[–] snes4u 15 years ago

The movie bombed because it was lame. It still is. Men in tights singing? Pellet in the poison? Really? I'm not saying that it is gayer than a fanny-pack full of dicks, but my friends would.

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[–] rasicar 15 years ago

Heck... Casablanca was considered barely average when it first came out and it is considered one of the quintessential movies of the 20th century now.

You vote for pizza and a movie, they vote to rape you with switchblades. That's voting.

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[–] vinidici 11 years ago

According to Bob Osborne, The Court Jester used the same set as a previous Paramount picture that failed to break even at the box office; Osborne says TJC did succeed at the box office as well as recover the losses from the previous failed picture.

Okay folks, show's over, nothing to see here!

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[–] musicbytes 9 years ago

I love wizard of oz court jester and it's a wonderful life ! I also love Scrooge 1951 with alastair sim ! Beetlejuice is great too !

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[–] GeoSlv 9 years ago

I checked and Wikipedia does say it "bombed", because of the finances. Go there and argue on the Talk page. I'd rather think it was very popular like some here say. That's not "bombing".
I admit I saw it myself in a neighbourhood theater (not the "first run"), and have thought it's in the running for the funniest movie in history. Along with The Party (1968).

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[–] arisdisc 8 years ago

Not in 'my' town in Michigan. This movie was huge and ran for many months.

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[–] SnoozeAlarm 8 years ago

From http://www.dannykaye.net/courtjester.html:

This movie, above all others, is probably the one best-remembered by most of Danny's fans. So it might surprise some fans to learn that The Court Jester did not do very well at the box office. Danny's explanation for this, from Kurt Singer's The Danny Kaye Story, was this: "The picture didn't make money because its production cost too much in today's inflationary market. Expenses got out of hand." (pg 203)

Scariest words in English: We’re from the federal government and we’re here to help. R. Reagan

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