oOoBarracuda
My unintentional boycott of Bing Crosby films must end. I have no idea, being a fan of classic cinema, how this was my first experience with the actor/singer. Tay Garnett's interpretation of Mark Twain's book of the same name, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court proves that musicals can be fun, endearing, and serious, all at the same time. By the end of the movie I was feverishly searching Bing Crosby's filmography to see what other works of his I can check out!A simple mechanic living in Connecticut in the year 1912, Hank Martin (Bing Crosby), takes a bump to the head on a stormy night, waking to find himself in 528 A.D. adapting well to his new surroundings, Hank shows his new counterparts technology and gently gives them hints about the future. He soon finds himself befriending those closest to King Arthur (Cedric Hardwicke), including most notably his favorite niece, Alisande La Carteloise (Rhonda Fleming). He quickly falls for the beautiful woman he nicknames Sandy, stepping on the toes of Sir Lancelot ( Henry Wilcoxon) whom she has been promised to. Learning that Sandy doesn't love Sir Lancelot, Hank goes about giving her glimpses of the world in which he comes from, and pushing her to only marry out of love. Trying to convince King Arthur to better learn what the lives of his subjects are like, he fashions an incognito trip for them in plain clothes. Disaster ensues when Merlin, (Murvyn Vye) sees the King's absence as a chance to overtake the thrown. If there's one thing we know about Hank though, it's that he is just resourceful enough to get out of any situation.A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was a fun look into the novel of Mark Twain, told largely through music. Bing Crosby brought the picture to life for me, and any fans of his must see this film! I found the film well-acted and touching. The film was a great story of the everyman type that succeeds. The film looked beautiful in all of its Technicolor glory. I will definitely be checking into more Bing Crosby films!
vincentlynch-moonoi
There are quite a few Bing Crosby films I admire, quite a few of his songs that I enjoy. But this is among my least favorite Crosby films and the songs are hopelessly outdated (even though it's this era of music I most enjoy). In fact, that's the problem with the film overall -- for some reason it seems hopelessly outdated. And I'm not sure why. But man, is it boring.That's not to say it doesn't have its strong points. In 1949, the year this film was produced (as was I), Bing Crosby was # 2 at the box office, beat out only by Bob Hope, but beating out such stalwarts as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and Humphrey Bogart! The Technicolor here is beautiful! And enhances the beauty of the leading lady -- Rhonda Fleming. In addition to Crosby and Fleming, Sir Cedric Hardwicke has the role of King Arthur, which is a bore early on, but gets more interesting when "the boys" hit the road. William Bendix is funny as Sir Sagramore, but it gets kinda old kinda fast. The only other thing, cast-wise, to watch for, is Henry Wilcoxon as Sir Lancelot; guess he wasn't always in Biblical epics! Aside from the vagabonds hitting the road, the only other scene I enjoyed was the climax scene; those almanacs...how clever they were.If Bing is your thing, the musicals like "White Christmas", "Holiday Inn", and "High Society" are much better, the road pictures with Bob Hope are much funnier, and "Man On Fire" (if you can find it) and "The Country Girl" are great for dramas.But, this film is still worth a watch...once...to see beautiful Technicolor and rick sets.
Neil Doyle
Giving credit where it's due, only the technicolor, costumes and sets deserve any honorable mention.This is undoubtedly the lowest point in BING CROSBY's long career at Paramount. The script is about as clumsy as you could possibly imagine and neither the casual Bing nor William Bendix nor Sir Cedric Hardwicke can do a thing about repairing it. Bendix looks extremely foolish in a page boy wig. And poor Rhonda Fleming has a stock costume heroine role requiring her to look adoringly at Bing and little else except for warbling a couple of uninspired ballads in a voice probably dubbed for the occasion.Just plain awful! Mark Twain's wit is not evident in any of the screenplay. Only die-hard Crosby fans can possibly appreciate this mess of a film given uninspired direction. Even the extras look as though they don't know what they're supposed to be doing.Summing up: Dull as dishwater. Not recommended, even for children.
florriebbc
Hello again, I have to comment on this wonderful, exciting, and believable tale of romance and intrigue. The music in wonderful and memorable. Very good colorful movie. Another movie I liked as well later on was High Society with Bing Crosby. Wonderful music. Thanks for listening, Florence Forrester-Stockton, Reno, Nevada
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