mark.waltz I've come to the belief that Danny Kaye is an acquired taste, his early films quite funny yet some of the themes going way overboard to be over the heads of adolescents. His pairing with wife Sylvia Fine was a teaming of one of the great satirist writers and portrayer of those type of parts. In this very upscale comedy spoof of spy movies, he shows his meddle as he goes back into the territory of his early 1940's Broadway hit, "Lady in the Dark", as he goes into therapy to discover the reasons why he has allowed his romantic pairings to be destroyed by his ventriloquist dummy. Psycho analyst Mai Zetterling seems to have ulterior motives for taking his case, possibly being involved in the spy ring that hid secret documents in his dummy.A serious atmosphere takes this way above the typical Bob Hope spy vehicle. There's no time for nonsense, and other than the occasional patter song, this is more plot oriented than normal, making it frequently suspenseful as well as ironic in its underplayed humor. Kaye provides a variety of accents, making it obvious as to why he was one of the most popular comics among adults and children who would have to see this again on T.V. later on to further understand it. Ironically released the same year as Hus big Paramount musical "White Christmas" opposite Bing Crosby, he had the honor of sharing with Bing two quite different performances other than that overrated Christmas perennial. Bing, nominated for an Oscar for "The Country Girl", is equally matched by Danny in this. The intelligent story got an Oscar nomination, and Kaye certainly ranks as among the best performances of 1954.

SimonJack Danny Kaye made only 17 big screen movies and six TV movies in his 50-year career. He was surely in demand to do more. But like other many-talented physical performers (i.e., Fred Astaire), Kaye took time to perfect his often complicated routines. And, his films were mostly in his first 30 years. He had his own highly popular TV series that ran over five years, 1963-1967, and he made guest appearances on other shows. Kaye was one of the few multi-talented performers on stage and the silver screen; and I think he was one of the best. He was primarily known as a comedian. But he was an excellent dancer and singer as well. He was a first-rate mimic. He had a versatile voice and could imitate various ethnic voices. And, he was the singular master of tongue-twisters. His rapid-fire, tongue-twister monologues and songs were marvelous to see and hear. About the middle of his career, Kaye made "Knock on Wood." He plays a ventriloquist, Jerry Morgan, who unwittingly gets involved in an espionage caper between Paris and London. Kaye sings, dances, tongue-twists, and ruses his way through many a scrape in this delightful comedy. He has his usual slapstick situations, and is riotous in a ballet sequence. When three bodies turn up in his hotel rooms, he becomes known in London as the "red-headed ripper." Two of the most hilarious escapades are his posing as an English gentleman and then as an Irishman at a Sons of Hibernia convention. His tongue-twister song in brogue is over the top funny. Danny Kaye played a couple of serious roles in films, but mostly was an entertainer who relished making people laugh. Kaye never won an Oscar but was given an honorary Academy Award for his exceptional talents and service to filmdom and America. He was just 44 when he received that award in 1955. He did win two Golden Globes – for "On the Riviera" in 1952 and "Me and the Colonel" in 1958. And, he won an Emmy for his TV comedy series. In 1982, he received another award from the Hollywood academy – the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award. For many years, Kaye was ambassador at large for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the organization asked him to accept the 1955 Nobel Peace Prize it was awarded. Kaye is probably most known today for his co-starring role with Bing Crosby in "White Christmas." In 1955, he was near the end of his roles with much physical activity, and he focused more on music. He played Red Nichols in that music man's 1959 biopic, "The Five Pennies." Kaye toured with Bob Hope shows for American service men overseas. Hope said Kaye was his favorite comedian.Whatever Danny Kaye was in was worth watching. Kaye said that he was born to entertain people. All of his comedy films are among the best of the genre. The inimitable Danny Kaye shines in this wonderful comedy, as he does in all the others. It's pure joyful and fun entertainment for the whole family.

bkoganbing The story of the ventriloquist's dummy who develops a personality all its own has been used any number of times. Two times when it was used seriously the ventriloquists were Cliff Robertson on the Twilight Zone and Michael Redgrave in Dead Of Night. But Danny Kaye managed to use it for laughs in Knock On Wood.Every time Kaye gets close to a girl to start talking seriously of marriage, his second persona through the dummy takes over and cooks the deal for good. Kaye's agent David Burns suggests some consultation with a psychiatrist Steven Geray. And then Geray consults a consultant and the consultant psychiatrist turns out to be Mai Zetterling.That's how romances start with comics, especially movie comics. But even Zetterling is ready to commit him when all kind of strange things happen. Two parts of the design of a secret weapon get hidden both of Kaye's dummies Clarence and Terrence. And two different sets of spies get a hold of the parts. One is held by Leon Askin and the second held by international man of mystery Torin Thatcher.Things start happening around Kaye that he and no one else can explain so it's not unnatural for mental health professionals to think he's off his rocker. But so does law enforcement in several countries.Knock On Wood is not as good as so many of Kaye's films, still his fans should like it. Best is the ballet sequences where in trying to elude the police who want him for a homicide and the spies who just want him dead, Danny fouls up a ballet that his former girlfriend is starring in. What a way to put a coda on a breakup. Of course Danny was to reach the height of his career with his next two films White Christmas and The Court Jester. Knock On Wood is good, but just an interlude in Danny's career.

skallisjr This isn't quite in the class of The Court Jester, but it's better by far than most comedies. Kaye's character is one of those who gets caught up in intrigue without fully understanding just what's going on.Spoilers follow: One really funny scene has Kaye's character hiding under a table, where those who are hunting him decide to sit down. One of them puts his hand on Kaye's knee, so he immediately puts his hand on that man's, so he'll think he's resting his hand on his own knee. Then the other (third) guy does the same thing with Kaye's other knee, and Kaye responds identically. Then, as the men talk, they start drumming their fingers on Kaye's knees, and he has to mimic their actions! Incredible work that probably involved a lot of retakes.There's one wonderful running gag where Kaye and his girlfriend are trying to escape pursuit by cutting through a car caught in a traffic jam. Later, they do the same, and happen to crawl through the same car, with the same couple in it. This leads to a great last line toward the close of the picture.You could do far worse than this one and still see a pretty good picture.