Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Kidskycom It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

iansnicholson-96168 My early thirties year old lodger and I did the "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle" routine about two hours ago. Realistically we were probably the only people in London that did. Yet the fact that the film still resonates has to count for something. It's just fun.

The_Film_Cricket Danny Kaye only made a handful of features but this was the films that best displayed his gifts. In this spoof of Errol Flynn swashbucklers, set in merry old England, he plays Hubert Hawkins, a former carnival entertainer who now works for a notorious Robin Hood-like outlaw named The Black Fox. He gets involved in court intrigue when the infant king has his birthright usurped by the imposter Roderick. Hawkins gets himself involved in a convoluted plot: The phony king finds out where The Black Fox's camp is located and so the outlaw instructed Hawkins to escort the infant monarch – who bears the royal birthmark, the purple pimpernel, on his posterior – away from the camp. He and maid Jean (Glynnis O'Conner) elude the king's men disguised as an elderly wine merchant and his granddaughter. Slipping away, they find shelter in an old farmer's shack where they are joined by Giacomo (John Carradine) who pronounces himself "King of Jesters and Jester to the King". A light bulb goes off in Hubert's head and he whomps Giacomo over the head, intending to steal his identity and slip into the palace, installing himself in the king's confidence while planning to let The Black Fox's forces in in order to overtake the throne.The plot is probably more complicated than it needs to be – what we really want to see is Danny doing his thing. We want to see his snappy performance of "You'll Never Outfox the Fox" which he performs to boost morale within the camp. We want to see his performance of "The Maladjusted Jester", a performance before the phony king that displays his gift for tongue twisters. And of course we want to see the famous bit involving two goblets, one of which is poisoned and the other is safe "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!" Ah-Ha but there's a change in the plan so it becomes "The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true." We want to see the verbal dance as he explains to the King the business of the duty to the Duke and the Doge and Duchess and the details therein.With his craft honed in his youth in the Catskills, Kaye is a fanciful presence, a man of merriment who knows how to kid himself. He spent years perfecting his vocal inflections, his dances, his singing voice, he is the consummate entertainer. He can change personalities on a dime as in scene in which he is under a spell cast by the witch Gremelda. When she snaps her fingers he goes into a trance in which he becomes the greatest swordsman of all. Fighting the evil Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), he unknowingly snaps his fingers and his mind switches back to the fumbling Hubert then another snap of the fingers and he is again the Hubert the expert swordsman.I love the way this heavily plotted movie takes time out to give him his moments. Example is "The Maladjusted Jester" number in which he is thrust before the King to make him laugh, but he has nothing to work with, so he just makes it up. We know that it is rehearsed and practiced but he makes his act look effortless, this dance of words and of song are flawless. That's why it always makes me a little sad that he never got the credit for his performance here. He was a pure joy to watch. He said "If you're not cooking with joy, happiness and love, you're not cooking well."

jc-osms Very enjoyable spoof of the swashbuckling genre with Danny Kaye in effervescent form in the lead role. It's colourful, with sumptuous sets and costumery to the fore, romantic, with a young Angela Lansbury and the fetching Glynis Johns as the competing love interest for our hapless hero, occasionally, well you wouldn't say exciting, but eventful with Kaye squaring off against the old despicable villain in so many of this type of film, Basil Rathbone and last but not least, certainly it's highly amusing.Kaye plays his part with athleticism, impressively given his age but of course it's his buffoonery which is the main attraction. Whether under a witch's hypnotic spell, making him brave at the snap of a finger, engaging in customary hilarious tongue-twisting confusion (it took me some time, but I think I now know in which goblet the pellet with the poison is) or engaging in the climactic sword-fight with Rathbone at the end, he's great value all round.There are some fine songs too, particularly "Outfox the Fox" and "The Maladjusted Jester" wittily written by Sammy Cahn and of course a happy ending with no-one really hurt or killed in action. His rapid-fire patter invariably draws a smile too ("Get it?" "Got it" "Good").I appreciate that Kaye's brand of clowning humour is hit-or-miss with some people but he usually makes me laugh and this is definitely one of his best parts in an affectionate tribute to the ghosts of Flynn, Power, Grainger and others...

Luis Guillermo Cardona Few films so I left good impression on children as this which he stars, Danny Kaye, with so much grace and charm. His colorful setting, as effective as the best fairy tale, the elegant costumes that glow in each character, and his humorous situations, amid all the hubbub for putting on the throne to the rightful heir and bring the same to the licentious usurper fully entertained me and made me crave years later to see her again and hopefully have it in my files. And now, the liberal target, the occasion provided me nicely, I see with eyes full of nostalgia, as it preserves the visual magic and much of the charm of this pleasant film. And I have never laugh laughter with "hard" evidence for knighthood to our beloved buffoon. He also smiled at length with the fight at the Palace between the king's men and the Lilliputians of the forest. And I enjoyed the best with a delicious tangle of the pill in the cup with mortar.The film is still without objection, although, at times - now that adults play at being analytical -, we have to pretend to be a blind eye to the simplicity with which certain situations are resolved. But in a comedy, sustainable thesis is always permissive, and one does not repair, so hard, if the output of the hero is because of his wit or excessive clumsiness imposed on their rivals. "THE COURT JESTER", get get us full in his colorful scenery and much appreciated in the intricacies of impersonating a buffoon who was expected as a calculating murderer. We look forward to the barefoot Jean (an attractive Glynnis Johns) eager to help the commoner than has been in love. Again we prepare for the cold and cruel stratagems of Basil Rathbone, the adversary par excellence of so many heroes swordsmen. And Angela Lansbury, very young, very graceful looks like Princess Gwendoline, a man eager for the start of forced marriage to being prepared.Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the duo director of this film - and some others as "Above and Beyond" or "Knock on wood" - is here, for us, is perhaps his best, his work as writers discounted where harvested various successes. Her spark for irony, for the visual humor and more accommodating to the atmosphere, is very thinly settled here.