The Court Jester (1955)

Directors:

Melvin Frank
Norman Panama

Writers:

Norman Panama (written by) and
Melvin Frank (written by)

Release Date:

27 January 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical

Plot:

A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against an evil ruler who has overthrown the rightful king.

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Reverse Footage | Poison | Jester | Wench

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win

Cast

Danny Kaye	...	Hubert Hawkins
Glynis Johns	...	Maid Jean
Basil Rathbone	...	Sir Ravenhurst
Angela Lansbury	...	Princess Gwendolyn
Cecil Parker	...	King Roderick I
Mildred Natwick	...	Griselda
Robert Middleton	...	Sir Griswold
Michael Pate	...	Sir Locksley
Herbert Rudley	...	Captain of the Guard
Noel Drayton	...	Fergus
John Carradine	...	Giacomo
Edward Ashley	...	Black Fox
Alan Napier	...	Sir Brockhurst
Lewis Martin	...	Sir Finsdale
Patrick Aherne	...	Sir Pertwee

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #17501) | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl

Company:

Dena Enterprises

Trivia:

"The American Legion Zouaves of Richard F. Smith Post No. 29, Jackson, Michigan" were a U.S. Civil War reenactment group. They performed the intricate high speed marching maneuvers during the knighting ceremony. The United States Army adopted the Model 1863 Zouave rifle, a percussion or "cap-and-ball" muzzle-loader, which was manufactured by Remington. Obviously the marching knights could not be armed with Civil War-era rifles in the movie. The original Zouave units were North African regiments of the French Army, beginning earlier in the 1800s and serving through both World Wars.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Hubert and Maid Jean are nearing King Roderick's castle, Sir Ravenhurst and Sir Locksley watch their arrival through telescopes, an invention of the 17th century.

Quotes:

King: You spent some time in the Italian court?
Hawkins: Why, yes. What better place to court Italians?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

Soundtrack:

The Maladjusted Jester

A comedy classic – Get it? Got it. Good.

Danny Kaye is excellent in this old fashioned family comedy mixed some musical numbers, slapstick humour with wonderful wit and wordplay. The story moves along regardless of the fact that some events occur just to set up some of the jokes, and also some of the editing effects in one scene are really dated! But you're laughing so much that it doesn't matter.

This is a wonderfully old fashioned family comedy that despite it's age still feels freshly funny and acts to show us how crude and ham-fisted comedies such as American Pie etc really are.

Go and find this and watch it today!…..Get it? Got it! Good!