Musical comedy/Spoof
1956 / 101 min
Rating: 8/10

In medieval England, the crown has been usurped, and the only surviving heir to the throne is a mere baby. So, who is left to stop the villainous new ruler, King Roderick the Tyrant? Some might think it’d be the brave Black Fox, a Robin Hood-like outlaw, who has his own band of merry rebels hiding out with him in the forest. But the hero of this story is an unlikely sort – Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye) is the Black Fox’s minstrel, or, to say it another way, he’s the outlaw band’s entertainment director.

This is a movie you might want to watch twice just to keep track of the convoluted plot. Hawkins ends up sneaking into the castle by taking the place of an internationally famous jester who was coming at the king’s request. But little does Hawkins know, “Giacomo: the king of jesters, and jester to kings” is also secretly a highly sought-after assassin, and the king has summoned him to knock off the his remaining rivals. If you’re still with me, that means the king thinks mild-mannered Hawkins is actually his paid killer.

To add to the mayhem, Hawkins ends up getting accidentally hypnotized such that, at one snap of the fingers he thinks himself the greatest of all swordsmen, and at a second snap, he’s back to his own defenceless self. Imagine the sword-fighting hijinks that ensue!

Cautions

The buffoon King Roderick does some leering early on, particularly in the direction of the heroine, Maid Jean.

Thankfully, she escapes his attentions by claiming her father, his brothers, cousins, uncles, and aunts had all succumbed to “Brekenridge’s scourge,” but that “just because it runs in the family doesn’t mean that everyone has it.” Still, that bit of information cools his jets, and for the rest of the film, the king is afraid to even touch Maid Jean.

Note also that a witch makes an appearance, but while she manages some hypnosis and attempts a poisoning, this doesn’t get into any dark magics.

Conclusion

The Court Jester is a silly “Robin Hood” spoof of a story with Danny Kaye playing the bumbling jester/spy brilliantly.

Check out the clip below for a sampling of Danny Kaye’s mumbling, stumbling best.

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