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The Court Jester (1955)
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Pretty Lame
Yes they have made many film that rely too much on star power and this is most certainly one of them. This musical stars the "hilarious" and "charming" Danny Kaye as the title character who works his magic through a series of impossible situations while trying to restore the rightful king of England (a baby with a "hilarious" birthmark) to the throne. He falls in love with the beautiful Maid Jean (Glynis Johns, best known as playing the suffragette mother Mrs. Banks in 1964's 'Mary Poppins') who is almost a feminist character as a captain of the rebel army, but gives up that distinction when she gives all the due to the fact that her father "wanted a son".
Ah, yes a medieval kingdom with many vertically-challenged people (is that the PC term for those people who probably played munchkins in a certain 1939 film?), we hear about that all the time, right? That is just the kind of thing that passes for humour in this movie. Also, isn't is bizarre that Kaye is the only actor in the piece who didn't even attempt a British accent?
Perhaps the most interesting part of this ho-hum movie is Angela Lansbury, at age 30, lovely and devious as Princess Gwendolyn. You can see her star quality sparkle though years before 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (1971). The film also boasts tremendous art direction, the costumes and castle sets are colourful and quite the achievement.
This movie is all right, but it does not translate as comedic in the modern age. Frankly, I don't really see how it could have been all that funny 50 years ago.
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