The court jester griselda movie#

They'd been writing partners since 1935, famously for Bob Hope's radio show and some of his movies at Paramount, including the best of the 'Road' pictures with Bing Crosby, Road to Utopia (1945), for which they were nominated for an Academy Award (at a time when few comedies were so honored). Norman Panama and Melvin Frank produced, directed, and wrote the funny script. At times, under Griselda's influence, he's dashing and fearless, boldly romancing the Gwendolyn and planning assassinations with Ravenhurst, and at other times, as Hawkins-as-Giacomo, scared out of his wits that Jean's scheme will unravel at any minute. Further, man-starved Gwendolyn has her confidant, castle witch Griselda (Mildred Natwick), cast a spell on Hawkins. With some reluctance, Hawkins assumes Giacomo's identity but soon after Jean is taken prisoner, as a 'wench' for the King's upcoming ball.Īt the castle, the audience but not Hawkins soon realize that the real Giacomo is also an expert assassin hired by Ravenhurst to prevent an alliance between Roderick and Sir Griswold of MacElwain (Robert Middleton). Jean knocks Giacomo unconscious, believing it a swell chance for Hawkins to infiltrate the castle and restore the throne to the true King of England. Hiding out in a barn, they encounter Giacomo (John Carradine), en route to the castle as the King's newly hired jester.

News arrives that the infant king, with his unmistakable birthmark, the 'purple pimpernel,' survived the attempt on his life, and is safely being held by the Black Fox and his band of rebels, hiding out in the Sherwood-like forests nearby.įearing for the infant's safety, the rebels disband, entrusting the baby to Hubert Hawkins (Kaye), the rebels' minstrel, and Maid Jean (Glynnis Johns).

The court jester griselda movie#

Popular but not commercially successful when it was new, The Court Jester and The White Christmas (also featuring Kaye) belong in the increasingly tiny handful of classic films that people who normally avoid old movies still watch.įollowing the murder of the Royal Family of England by Lord Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone, in his first movie in ten years) and his men, Roderick the Tyrant (Cecil Parker) has usurped the throne, residing in the castle with his marriage-aged daughter, Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury). The Court Jester was reportedly the most expensive film comedy made up to that time, at $4 million, and the money is all there, up on the screen. Indeed, Kaye starred in nothing but big-budget color films until 1958's Me and the Colonel, his first starring feature in black-and-white. After a few, low-budget two-reelers he made for Educational Pictures in the late-1930s, Kaye made his feature debut in the splashy Technicolor musical Up in Arms (1944), the first of many films he made for producer Samuel Goldwyn, who spared no expense on future Kaye vehicles. Kaye was unique among comedians of the time. It's doubtful the movie has looked this good since its initial releases better, certainly, than past inadequate past home video versions. Arguably comedian Danny Kaye's best comedy, The Court Jester (1956) is finally on Blu-ray with a video transfer befitting its VistaVision origins.