We’ve essayed to say that in this film and many others, Kaye’s fancy prancing and flowery gestures and rubber-faced mugging and rhythmic delivery may come across, to some viewers, as gayer than Christmas. Sorry, we’re getting carried away by the screenplay’s wordplay. Actually, a literal key is a key McGuffin in the story, and that’s okay for Kaye. Here we arrive at a key element in Kaye’s persona. Standing next to him is the bold and beautiful Captain Jean (Glynis Johns), a rebel wench with a peremptory and take-charge attitude. He feels this duty is more appropriate to a woman in other words, he feels emasculated. Meanwhile, Hubert feels embarrassed to be tasked with proving the baby’s royal lineage to new recruits by flashing “the purple pimpernel”, the royal birthmark on his royal posterior. They promise to be available if he changes his mind, and so the comedy establishes that the story will partly be about how seemingly unlikely and non-standard heroes can save the day if given a chance. “Hmm,” says the Black Fox without conviction, and he dismisses the little people with as much condescension. This activity turns out to be a feint, for Kaye’s character is merely circus acrobat Hubert Hawkins, who longs to prove his manly mettle in a fight for justice. But hold! One rightful royal babe has been spirited away to the forest by the dashing and mysterious Black Fox (Edward Ashley).Īt first, the viewer thinks Kaye plays the Black Fox because he tells us so in a lively and elaborate scene of musical cavorting surrounded by a troupe of little people billed as Hermine’s Midgets. As a narrator explains, the throne has been usurped by King Roderick (Cecil Parker) after his right-hand conniving scoundrel, Lord Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), caused the royal family to be massacred. Set in some never-never-England, the story spoofs Robin Hood and other swashbuckling heroes. It’s one of several films written, produced, and directed by the hardy team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, who found in Kaye an ideal performer for their tendency to mix verbal and physical humor in fiendishly complex plots. Hawkins is able to persuade Roderick and his men that he is indeed a jester, but his espionage work gets complicated when Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury ) falls in love with him, and he runs afoul of Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone ), the evil genius behind Roderick. Court Jester features Kaye 's famous "Pellet with the Poison" routine.The Court Jester(1956), a just-about-perfect example of a Danny Kaye vehicle, arrives on Blu-ray for the first time in the Paramount Presents line. The rebels quickly hatch a plan: detain the jester and send Hawkins in his place the king can then find the key and initiate the overthrow. Maid Jean (Glynis Johns ), one of the rebels, meets a man en route to the Castle who is to be Roderick's new jester. The Black Fox travels with the little king and his rebels as they search for the key to a secret tunnel that will allow them passage into the castle. Brave rebel leader The Black Fox (Edward Ashley ) intends to remove Roderick from the palace and bring the crown back to its true owner, but in the meantime the baby king needs to be looked after, which is the job of a man named Hawkins (Kaye ). While the infant King of England awaits his rightful place as leader of the British Empire, his rule is usurped by Roderick (Cecil Parker ), an evil pretender to the throne. Danny Kaye spoofs medieval swashbucklers in this classic musical comedy.
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