Myriam Nys "The court jester" is an extremely, and I mean extremely, thorough attack on almost every trope and cliché related to movies, especially of the cloak-and-dagger kind, about chivalry, royalty, dynastic intrigue and the Middle Ages. For instance, you've got the Infant Heir In Danger, saved and protected at great risk by a small band of faithful subjects : it's a thundering great big old cliché, which goes back to storytelling conventions already old when Homer was young. The infant heir is bearing a distinguishing mark on his body : again, this is a cliché so old that it travels back for many, many centuries, to a time where people believed that rulers were special, either because they were gods or because they were in close contact with gods. However, "The Court Jester" gives this cliché a nicely satirical twist, by stating that the infant bears his special sign on his butt... However, the movie's strength is at the same time its weakness : like nearly all spoofs, it works best if you are familiar with the material or genre being spoofed. If you've never looked at a "straight" Hollywood movie about, say, Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, Prince Valiant, Merlin, King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table... you're likely to miss out on a great deal of the madness. The acting is excellent and lead actor Danny Kaye does a sterling job, especially in the scenes where he switches personalities at the speed of light, going from timid and reasonable to dashing and gallant - and back again.So try the movie, it's very funny. Do not be surprised if, for weeks afterwards, you find yourself saying "Yea, verily yea" in a deep and solemn voice. It will wear off, especially after a few martinis...

writers_reign This is one of the better Kate vehicles, one that remains watchable half a century later. It features most, if not all, of the Kaye schtick; the tongue-twisters, the mugging, the balladeering - in this case a lullaby - all the stuff in fact that tends to grate when the earlier - 40s - movies surface on TV. It helps, of course, that Basil Radford is on hand as chief villain. Radford was, hands down, the finest swordsman in Hollywood ( fencer, for the pedants, though I accept that Radford's old opponent Errol Flynn was a swordsman in both senses of the word) and more could have been made of the final showdown between him and Kaye instead of aborting the duel via catapult. The plot was old when Cain was lining up Abel in his cross-hairs but no one really notices. Sammy Cahn weighed in with some fine (sorry about that, Sylvia) lyrics with Mrs Kaye, Slyvia Fine, restricted to music only with the exception of The Maladjusted Jester, John Carradine appeared all too briefly as the real Giacomo and all in all a good time was had by all.

CINEMINTZ-1 Inspired silliness from the team of Melvin Panama and Norman Frank starring Danny Kaye in probably his Finest Hour Plus. Definitely derivative of Adventures of Robin Hood in more ways than one with Rathbone as a villain almost equal to the one he played in that enduring Classic. But like comparing Young Frankenstein(74) with either Bride of Frankenstein or the Original Frankenstein(31),certainly there is certainly more comic interplay in Court Jester and it is definitely great on a lower level but the originals are still overall preferred. Whereas The Bride ,Frank(31) and Robin Hood deserve the highest rating,Court Jester is just a step below. Still there are not many scenes as memorable and hilarious as the pellet-pallet tongue twister scene which is as strong as the Marx brothers classics,though overall it is probably not quite the comic masterpiece as Duck Soup,Night at the Opera and even Horse feathers and Day at the Races are. As entertainment value goes it definitely delivers and probably belongs with the very best Comic Adventures ever made. Glynis Johns is as fine a romantic heroine and the use of dwarfs is almost on par with the Wizard of Oz.

Syl The Court Jester's film version has dancing and music as well as a storyline about the court jester played by the wonderful Danny Kaye. The great (not dame yet) Angela Lansbury CBE plays the beautiful Gwendolyn who doesn't want to marry Griswold. The great (not dame yet or honored at all) Glynis Johns plays maid Jean. She fits right in with the boys of Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest. The film version is colorful with great costumes, art direction, and scenery to recreate the Arturian times. The cast is first rate that includes Sir Basil Rathbone along others as well. The film is smart enough not to be corny and to poke fun at itself. Like the scene with the baby who holds the mark, Kaye's character suggests that a woman should hold the baby. Gwendolyn states "if you love him (Griswold) so much, then you marry him" to her own father, the King and ruler of Camelot. It could be adapted to a Broadway musical since most of Broadway musicals are now being adapted from films anyway.