MovieChat Forums > The Court Jester (1956) Discussion > Forced Comedy

Forced Comedy

posted 19 years ago by alg11297
14 replies | jump to latest

I was never a Danny Kaye fan and after viewing this one on Sunday now I know why. The notes read this film cost $4 million to make, a staggering sum for a comedy back in 1956 and grossed half of that. It was considered a "flop". The comedy is so forced it's terrible. It looks like some ideas for a radio comedy show that didn't make the air. The vessel with the pessel which goes for for an interminally long time ends with the King saying "There will be no toast" at which point the two cups are just thrown out. Kaye's armor gets magnatized but it only seems to attract certain steel objects and not others. When Kaye is hypnotised by Mildred Natwick she seems to have him in a spell. However, apparently anyone can snap him into and out of the hypnotic state (including himsef)and it gives the characters an excuse to snap their fingers for any apparent reason.

I was also amazed at the color. Glynis John looks incredible short and so made up she appears to be a negro. Angela Landsbury has great lines like "If he dies, you die" about 5 times. Her hair is so blond it looks like the film was colored in.

This film did not influence anything. I seem to remember A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as a musical with Bing Crosby and various others.

In all.....a big waste.

[–] lani-d 14 years ago

Obviously sharp writing and old fashioned slapstick is not for you. You might enjoy toilet humor frat movies instead. You have to understand that it is not a serious comedy at all. It pokes fun at the Robin Hood genre and is a vehicle for Danny Kaye's comedy which he does the best in this flick.

Poking holes into the scientific or other inaccuracies is pointless since they are to be expected. Same deal with the color. This was 50 years ago and the unnatural coloring is typical for movies of old; it helps to create their signature look.

[–] boxerrebellion 11 years ago

The comedy made the movie appropriate for the whole family, unlike many of the movies of today. Even those that are aimed as family cinema resort to potty humour which is completely unnecessary.

[–] a-bollinger 14 years ago

The movie is slapstick. Stop "analizing" slapstick movies. It is just great entertainment - the colour is due to the "VistaVision" technique that was all the rage back then. It is just a sort of slapstick fairy tale, nothing more, nothing less. I suppose people can find fault anywhere - -
I was helpless with laughter when I first saw it and I still like it. Danny Kaye has an amazing singing voice, and Basil Rathbone is the best fencer Hollywood ever had. I don't think movie stars of our time would be able to do such a "fencing ballet" - perhaps with the exception of people like Jackie Chan in some comedy kung-fu movies like "Shanghai Knights", which shouldn't be analized either - these are also just very elaborate and "physical" slapstick, just made to entertain us.