“THE PELLET WITH THE POISON”

By Raymond Benson

Danny Kaye was not only a brilliant triple-threat (actor/singer/dancer), but he was a stand-up comic, an expert chef, a writer, a pilot, a baseball enthusiast (and, for a short time, co-owner of a team—the Seattle Mariners), a notable philanthropist, a UNICEF ambassador, and an honorary member of the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Pediatrics (!). His decades-long career on stage, in film, and on television speaks for itself, but one of his most beloved screen vehicles was The Court Jester, a 1956 picture that was shockingly ignored at the Oscars that year (Kaye, who never won an Academy Award, was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance).

Even more disturbing is the fact that it was allegedly the most expensive comedy film ever produced up to that time and was a box office failure (perhaps that’s the reason there was no Oscar love). Nevertheless, time has been extremely kind to the movie through revivals and television broadcasts. Now it’s perhaps the movie one thinks of when considering Danny Kaye starring vehicles.

The Court Jester was written, produced, and directed by the team of Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, who carved out a comedy-niche in Hollywood beginning in the 1940s by penning some of Bob Hope’s early classics together. Their White Christmas (1954, directed by Michael Curtiz) was a massive hit, and it paired Danny Kaye with Bing Crosby. They had directed Kaye that same year in Knock on Wood… so they were a good match for the actor on a musical-comedy send-up of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

Hubert Hawkins (Kaye) is the affable but non-heroic member of a band of Merry Men-like rebels led by Robin Hood-like “The Black Fox” (Edward Ashley). King Roderick (Cecil Parker) has usurped the throne from its rightful heir—the only survivor of the royal family, a baby with a peculiar birthmark of a “purple pimpernel” on his tuchus. The Black Fox’s band of brigands are keeping the child safe from the king’s men, led by chief antagonist Lord Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone). Hawkins is in love with Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), a “captain” in the group, and she reluctantly admits she has affection for him as well. When the opportunity arises to plant a mole inside the castle to steal keys to an underground passage that will allow the Black Fox and his men to take control of the palace and restore the land to its true monarch, Hawkins is apparently the right man for the job—to impersonate Giacomo the Jester (John Carradine), who is on his way from Italy to receive employment. Once Hawkins is ensconced in the castle, the king’s daughter, Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) is told by her confidante and “witch,” Griselda (Mildred Natwick) that “Giacomo” is to be her true beloved and not the king’s ally Sir Griswold (Robert Middleton). Needless to say, complications arise.

Yes, it’s a twisty-turny plot with many instances of mistaken identity and characters intentionally posing as people they are not. There’s romance, slapstick, clever wordplay, swashbuckling swordplay and action sequences—and there are song-and-dance musical numbers written by Sammy Cahn and Sylvia Fine (Kaye’s wife).

The dialogue is especially witty and fun—what movie buffs have not attempted to memorize the classic tongue-twister, “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true”? (Or the follow-up which replaces the chalice from the palace with the “flagon with the dragon”).

Kaye is marvelous throughout the picture, of course, and his supporting cast are all splendid, too. Rathbone, at this point in his mid-60s, still manages to swashbuckle with skill. Johns and Lansbury, as the dual love interests, are both fetching and charismatic.

The new ParamountMovies/Paramount Presents Blu-ray release beautifully shows off the VistaVision widescreen Technicolor cinematography by Ray June. The images are absolutely gorgeous. For this alone, the new release is worth the upgrade from the older DVD edition. The only supplements are a short featurette of critic Leonard Maltin talking a bit about the movie’s history and influence and the theatrical trailer.

The Court Jester is still funny, still thrilling, and still entertaining today. Is it one of the best comedies of the 1950s? The answer to that is a resounding YES.

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