how come this is not in the top 250 ?
how come this is not in the top 250 ? imdb has weird ways of counting sometimes
shareBecause not many people know.
~Me
I'm just a sweet transvestite...From Transexual, Transylvania...
Well, it should be the duty of those of us that know better to bring the knowledge, the truth, to the cinematic infidel!
I've shown this to many others and find to my surprise that not everyone gets it. Some find it too silly--this in spite of the fact that most of the sitcoms they sit through are just as silly while lacking the wit, the charm, the cleaverness, the comidic genius (in Danny Kaye) found here. Not to mention the fact that The Court Jester is entirely lacking in the mean-spiritedness which permeates most of todays comedies. Perhaps this is the reason some cannot relate--they're waiting for the put-down so as to know when to laugh. Still, some DO get it, and it's a joy to watch their reactions.
There is little doubt--at least so my battered brain tells me--that this is a film that truly belongs in the top 100, and among the top 10 comedies of all time. There are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many comic highlights--perhaps more than in any other movie! The sword fight at the end was originally my favorite scene, where Kaye is snapped back and forth between heroic mastery of the sword, and wildly inept cowardess. Of course the "vessel with the pestle" routine is a comic masterpiece which at various viewings has been my favorite. But we have the swinging back and forth between the witch's, the princess' and the villians rooms; the actual joust; the attempted seduction of Glynis Johns by the would be king; the accelerated tests of courage Kaye undergoes to become a knight; the little ditty Kaye sings to "welcome" Sir Grizzwald; the "Get it? Got it. Good," routine; the hypnotizing scene (my present favorite--how Kaye manages such rapid affective transformations, between "brooding melancholy" and all the other traits the witch instills within him is beyond me); and of course the "What did the Duke do?" interchange. And there is more. Lots more.
This is Danny Kaye's finest hour. He has been very good in almost every film he has been a part of--even the dramas like Skopje!, and The Five Pennies, but he has never had material like this to work with before--and such a great supporting cast! It's too bad the Academy didn't have the discernment to award Kaye with an Oscar.
The film is not quite perfect. Some of the early scenes are a little weak when compared with what is to come, and the final disposition of the baddies at the end is a little TOO ridiculous, but these quibbles are dwarfed (pun intended) by the positives.
Grab a few of the uninitiated and force them to see this movie with you. Spread the joy!
Cheerio!
"I'm a lover of beauty--and a beauty of a lover!"--The Court Jester
it should be on the top 250 its one of the funniest ever.....
VOTE 10
Well, the main problem is that not many people have seen it, so it doesn't have enough votes.
shareI think the real problem is the web pages of more recent films, especially the mega movies such as the Matrix and LOTR series, are visited much more often than the classics from the past and get many more votes. And if you factor in that WWW demographics do not favor the older Internet surfer, the older films are often unknown to the many young IMDB users.
Anyway, that's my opinion.
I love it. ^_^ (Right from the very beginning, with that silly/cheery song
about storytelling/storyfinding/storymaking/etc. [sifting through the research
stuff and "what did we find? a lot of dust!" ^_~ etc. ^_~ (adorable^_^!)].)
It's so cute. ^_^ (But maybe, to REALLY appreciate^_^ it, you have to be
childlike^_^ enough^_^ AND^_^ love^_^ Danny^_^ Kaye^_^ enough^_^.) (I'm=^__^=
younger^_^ AND^_~ older^_~ than a lot of people my=^__^= age [almost 34]. ^_^)
(No wonder I=^__^= feel like growling>_< whenever anyone suggests that maybe
I=^__^= [of all people ^_~] should spend more time with "people my own age". ^_~
The "average" person around my=^__^= chronological age doesn't "get" much stuff
that I=^__^= like^_^!!! ^_~ [Although there was one girl in college who was
almost exactly my=^__^= age AND^_^ a fan^_^ of the great Danny Kaye. ^_^
Her=^__^= real-life name was Katherine (Kat=^__^= for short). (I=^__^= just
like^_^ the cat=^__^= names^_^, I'm=^__^= not named any of them in "reality"
["reality" can be so boring sometimes! ^_~].)
Kit =^__^=
=^___^=
Needless to say, my feelings resonate totally with yours regarding this film. A question, however, if I may be so bold: To what end all of the "^" and "=" and "__" and the various permutations and combinations of these symbols? Not a complaint, just curious.
PS. Also in total agreement with the notion that, in someways, to grow old just doesn't make any sense!
Cheerio!
"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man
[deleted]
This has been one of my favorite movies for most of my life. actually all my favs come from the 1930-60s. Rarely do you find a comedy that gives you as mucha acting as The Court Jester does- can you imagine if it was made today?. Of course you probably wouldn't see Danny Kaye's zipper on his knight costume right before the pellet with the poision scene. But I think you really hit on what makes this movie my favorite. It is not mean spirited, it is Joyful- even the baddies aren't that bad- which is really more like real life. I just love this movie. it's a shame it isn't well known, but because it isn't I always take great joy in showing it to the uninitiated.
shareI'm glad your spreading the word. A lot of people these days don't have any idea what a GOOD zany comedy looks like, as if the Farley Brothers' films--full of that nastiness absent in all of Kaye's pictures--were the last word.
[What? You mean they didn't have zippers back then?]
Cheerio!
"Nothing in this world is more surprising than the attack without mercy!"--Little Big Man