Myriam Nys "The court jester" is an extremely, and I mean extremely, thorough attack on almost every trope and cliché related to movies, especially of the cloak-and-dagger kind, about chivalry, royalty, dynastic intrigue and the Middle Ages. For instance, you've got the Infant Heir In Danger, saved and protected at great risk by a small band of faithful subjects : it's a thundering great big old cliché, which goes back to storytelling conventions already old when Homer was young. The infant heir is bearing a distinguishing mark on his body : again, this is a cliché so old that it travels back for many, many centuries, to a time where people believed that rulers were special, either because they were gods or because they were in close contact with gods. However, "The Court Jester" gives this cliché a nicely satirical twist, by stating that the infant bears his special sign on his butt... However, the movie's strength is at the same time its weakness : like nearly all spoofs, it works best if you are familiar with the material or genre being spoofed. If you've never looked at a "straight" Hollywood movie about, say, Robin Hood, Ivanhoe, Prince Valiant, Merlin, King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table... you're likely to miss out on a great deal of the madness. The acting is excellent and lead actor Danny Kaye does a sterling job, especially in the scenes where he switches personalities at the speed of light, going from timid and reasonable to dashing and gallant - and back again.So try the movie, it's very funny. Do not be surprised if, for weeks afterwards, you find yourself saying "Yea, verily yea" in a deep and solemn voice. It will wear off, especially after a few martinis...

TheLittleSongbird Danny Kaye fans will be absolutely blown away by his performance here in The Court Jester. It is one of his all-time best, and showcases all the skills that he excelled at so well and better than most of his other roles, and this is coming from an actor who was versatile and enormously talented. He has a lovely controlled voice, he is very light on his feet as a dancer and has impeccable comic timing while making his character endearing rather than making him a total clown.He is wonderfully supported by an elegant, suave and suitably repellent Basil Rathbone as the film's villain (who plays it straight, which despite the film's silly nature contrasts very well), a hilarious Mildred Natwick and Glynnis Johns and Angela Lansbury who both have seldom looked more luminous and like Rathbone play it straight too while also being very charming and bagging just as many laughs as Kaye. John Carradine is underused but is effective too in his role, and Cecil Parker fares the same as Johns and Lansbury in that he manages to get a lot of great lines and humour while not getting over-silly or goofy. They are advantaged hugely by a deliciously witty and hysterically funny script, that is a non-stop laugh riot and filled with inspired wordplay and endearingly written characters that are essentially spoofs of pre-existing characters (Rathbone is like a Guy of Gisborne sort of character) and with every ounce of charm and spark.The story could have easily been tired (comedy of errors is not a new concept, and has had variable results when executed on film) and admittedly it's a bit sketchy, but that doesn't matter because the time just flies by, the spoofs are so much fun to spot and very cleverly incorporated and it's just so greatly entertaining, good-natured and warm-hearted. The Court Jester's most memorable scenes have to be the sword fight duel which is so professionally choreographed, on par with the likes of The Adventures of Robin Hood as one of the greatest and brilliantly wild (how Kaye and Rathbone managed to keep a straight face when doing that particular take is amazing, reportedly Rathbone kept getting convulsed with laughter before) and most notably the classic "vessel-with-the-pestle" routine, which is one the funniest things Kaye ever did and is reason alone to see The Court Jester.The Court Jester looks absolutely beautiful, with ravishing colours, lavish costumes and sets that give off a real sense of the medieval period and meticulously loving colour photography, while the film is superbly directed. The small number of songs, eight in total, fare memorably and have sweet melodies and extremely clever and witty lyrics (the same quality as the script-writing), Life Could Not Better Be and Outfox the Fox set up the characters nicely too without being heavy in exposition.In conclusion, The Court Jester is simply a delightful film which will be of no disappointment whatsoever to Danny Kaye fans. 10/10 Bethany Cox

ebiros2 I never seem to get tired of seeing this movie. It's funny craziness executed perfectly, and I don't know of any other movie that's done it so well.I've seen comedy where everyone is funny and the main character is playing strait, but this is a movie where everyone else is playing strait and Danny Kaye is the only one playing the comedy. Screen writer for this movie should have gotten the Oscar. It's one of the best play I've ever seen. When this movie was made, it's greatness was probably never noticed, but now it's surprising that this movie was not nominated for any awards.This movie and the "Five Pennies" are probably the best movie Danny Kaye ever made. He's just fantastic as the court jester/unwitting assassin.Great comedy to watch even today.

moonspinner55 Plushly-produced, well-directed and cast spoofing of knights and swordsmen spectacles has a disparate forest tribe in medieval England opposing the royal kingdom, sending Danny Kaye into the castle as an infiltrator under the guise of a jester. Fairly smart comedic vehicle for Danny allows the star to shine in several funny set-pieces despite a script which loses tracks of its own sub-plots. The celebrated "chalice from the palace" routine is nearly rendered inconsequential when nothing is ever done with the chalice, however the infrequent songs are amusingly interspersed with the action and the supporting players (including wonderful Glynis Johns as Maid Jean, Basil Rathbone and Angela Lansbury) are very colorful. Energetic without being frantic, and memorably pleasant. **1/2 from ****