Product Details

• Actors: Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury, Cecil Parker
• Format: Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: February 24, 1998
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (212 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304310080
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,712 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Danny Kaye spoofs Robin Hood and Scaramouche in this inventive slapstick swashbuckler. Portraying the clownish but good-hearted entertainer Hawkins, he infiltrates the court of the corrupt Basil Rathbone (up to his usual brand of cruel villainy) disguised as the legendary king of jesters, Giacomo. After a court sorceress hypnotizes Hawkins into believing he is also a legendary assassin, Hawkins has more identities than he can keep straight, and Kaye zips back and forth between them at, literally, a snap of the fingers. Comic highlights include a wonderful sword fight with Rathbone in which he constantly switches identities, and the classic "chalice from the palace/vessel with pestle" wordplay as Hawkins plays "hide the poison" and forgets where it is. With comely Glynis Johns as his spy-in-arms love interest, Angela Lansbury as the scheming princess, and Mildred Natwick as the dotty spellcaster, this is Danny Kaye at his comic best. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jest Wonderful, February 10, 2004

By 

Peter Reeve (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Court Jester (DVD)

Possibly the funniest musical comedy ever made. Even if you are not a Danny Kaye fan, you should try this movie. Don't be put off by the opening sequence, which looks rather dated now. The film contains some excruciatingly funny scenes, including the classic "Flagon with the dragon" routine. This is Kaye at his brilliant best.

The story (set in a mediaeval England which cheerfully makes no attempt at historical accuracy) is remarkably solid and complex, which helps maintain the film's brisk pace.

So when you are in the mood for some good old-fashioned fun, put your feet up and summon "The Court Jester".

Update: I recently watched this movie again and I think my original 4-star rating was wrong. This is a 5-star classic.

73 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "the perfect storm" of farces, May 29, 2003

By 

William Sommerwerck "grizzled geezer" (Renton, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Court Jester (DVD)

IMPORTANT NOTE: "The Court Jester" is a true widescreen film, shot in VistaVision, and (probably) intended to be projected at 1.85:1. It is ABSOLUTELY NOT a 4:3 film cropped to "look like" widescreen.

Danny Kaye is a classic example of a wildly talented performer who was not well-served by the movie industry. Sam Goldwyn knew to shoot Kaye in Technicolor to show off his red hair, but not to give Kaye first-rate material. In most of Kaye's films he plays some sort of congenital [dunce]. If you think gross stupidity came to movies only recently (eg, "Dumb and Dumber"), you've never seen "The Kid from Brooklyn," "On the Riviera," and similar Kaye [stuff].

"The Court Jester" is a wonderful exception, as Kaye's jester is no fool. Panama and Frank -- the team who produced most of the Hope/Crosby "Road" films -- were at their absolute peak with a wildly convoluted send-up of Robin Hood and similar derring-do. In addition to clever wordplay, they aren't afraid to descend to the deliriously dumb -- when Glynis Johns, pretending to be a deaf-mute, makes 15 seconds worth of hand gestures that Kaye interprets as nothing more than "No", he explains it's because she stutters.

The Panama-Frank direction is also on-target. When Kaye and Johns clobber John Carradine, it's shown as shadows on the wall, in the best Michael Curtiz fashion.

Danny Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine, wrote a lot of specialty material for him. (One might argue that he would have been nowhere nearly as successful without her.) Her comic songs were sometimes modeled on Gilbert & Sullivan; "The Maladjusted Jester" is her take on "Oh, a private buffoon" from "The Yeomen of the Guard." (I suspect she wanted to use Sullivan's music, but couldn't, as it was still under British copyright.)

Basil Rathbone reprises Sir Guy from "The Adventures of Robin Hood," and Panama-Frank gave him plenty of screen time, both as an actor and as a fencer -- Rathbone was, and still is, the consummate slick villain. And what can one say about Glynis Johns but "delicious," or Mildred Natwick but "inimitable," or Angela Lansbury but "chunky"? (Sorry about that.)

Pretty much a perfect entertainment -- the ideal film to chase away the blues.

PS: When, oh when, are we going to get a Blu-ray? Assuming the original VistaVision camera negative (or composite negative) exists, an HD transfer should be spectacular.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming and Hilarious Re-telling of the Robin Hood Story, December 28, 1999

By 

Lesley M. Schultz "msthoth" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Court Jester [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I am not a great Danny Kaye fan, but this movie is one the the very funniest I've ever seen. Everything about it is excellent, from the production values to the songs & lyrics, from the fine quality of actors to the charm and wit of the dialogue and the story. There is literally nothing wrong with this movie. It is fit for all audiences, from the youngest to the oldest members of your family. I remember the first time I saw it, being struck by the fact that all the actors seemed to be having an absolutely marvellous time. Particularly during the Jester's first call at entertaining the court...unforgettable and sheer delight. Every single person on camera looked like they were having a wonderful time just being there. I hadn't seen anything like such a fine emsemble cast since 'All About Eve.' I think it must have been because there were no bad lines, no bad parts, no scenes that didn't work, and everyone had a chance to shine. Having a good material to work with really does make a world of difference. Stars Danny Kaye, Angela Landsbury, Basil Rathbone, and a host of marvellous British actors whose names are right now escaping my memory. Buy it. Keep it. Enjoy it for years.