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In an early scene, Hubert and Captain Jean, who’s commanding him, share a bed of hay, and Jean more or less lets her hair down. More pertinently, the “unmanly” quality is one Kaye foregrounded and exploited for his whole career. Such subversion of heroic stereotypes is a common quality of comedy heroes, such as Bob Hope’s cowardly persona (which owes much to Frank and Panama) or Jerry Lewis’ nasal man-child.
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Not that there’s anything wrong with that, though as a child I felt disturbed by how far he seemed from a standard manly movie hero. We’ve essayed to say that in this film and many others, Kaye’s fancy prancing and flowery gestures and rubber-faced mugging and rhythmic delivery may come across, to some viewers, as gayer than Christmas. Sorry, we’re getting carried away by the screenplay’s wordplay. Actually, a literal key is a key McGuffin in the story, and that’s okay for Kaye. Here we arrive at a key element in Kaye’s persona. Standing next to him is the bold and beautiful Captain Jean (Glynis Johns), a rebel wench with a peremptory and take-charge attitude. He feels this duty is more appropriate to a woman in other words, he feels emasculated. Meanwhile, Hubert feels embarrassed to be tasked with proving the baby’s royal lineage to new recruits by flashing “the purple pimpernel”, the royal birthmark on his royal posterior. They promise to be available if he changes his mind, and so the comedy establishes that the story will partly be about how seemingly unlikely and non-standard heroes can save the day if given a chance. “Hmm,” says the Black Fox without conviction, and he dismisses the little people with as much condescension. This activity turns out to be a feint, for Kaye’s character is merely circus acrobat Hubert Hawkins, who longs to prove his manly mettle in a fight for justice. But hold! One rightful royal babe has been spirited away to the forest by the dashing and mysterious Black Fox (Edward Ashley).Īt first, the viewer thinks Kaye plays the Black Fox because he tells us so in a lively and elaborate scene of musical cavorting surrounded by a troupe of little people billed as Hermine’s Midgets. As a narrator explains, the throne has been usurped by King Roderick (Cecil Parker) after his right-hand conniving scoundrel, Lord Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), caused the royal family to be massacred. Set in some never-never-England, the story spoofs Robin Hood and other swashbuckling heroes. It’s one of several films written, produced, and directed by the hardy team of Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, who found in Kaye an ideal performer for their tendency to mix verbal and physical humor in fiendishly complex plots. Fulton Special Effects John R.The Court Jester(1956), a just-about-perfect example of a Danny Kaye vehicle, arrives on Blu-ray for the first time in the Paramount Presents line. Cast Danny Kaye Hawkins Glynis Johns Maid Jean Basil Rathbone Sir Ravenhurst Angela Lansbury Princess Gwendolyn Cecil Parker King Roderick Mildred Natwick Griselda Robert Middleton Sir Griswold Michael Pate Sir Locksley Herbert Rudley Captain of the Guard Noel Drayton Fergus Edward Ashley Black Fox John Carradine Giacomo Alan Napier Sir Brockhurst Lewis Martin Sir Finsdale Patrick Aherne Sir Pertwee Richard Kean Archbishop Eric Alden Leo Britt Bill Cartledge Billy Curtis Frank Delfino Leslie Denison Irving Fulton Russell Gaige Len Hendry Robin Hughes Charles Irwin Ray Kellogg Michael Mahoney Paul Newlan John O'Malley Tudor Owen William Pullen Robert Smith Trevor Ward Lloyd Nelson Joel Smith Harry Monty Phyllis Coughlan Larry Pennell Novice Knight Crew Melvin Frank Director, Producer, Screenwriter Norman Panama Director, Producer, Screenwriter Arthur Krams Set Designer Edith Head Costume Designer Hal Pereira Production Designer Irmin Roberts Special Effects James Starbuck Choreography John P.