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The Court Jester: Difference between revisions
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[[File:TheCourtJester.jpg|frame|"Get it?" "Got it." "Good."]]
{{quote|'''Giacomo:''' "King of Jesters..." [[Catchphrase Interruptus|(gets hit on the head, falls unconscious)]]
▲{{quote|'''Giacomo:''' "King of Jesters..." [[Catchphrase Interruptus|(gets hit on the head, falls unconscious)]]<br />
▲'''Maid Jean:''' "And jester to the king!" }}
The royal family of old [[Britain|England]] has been wiped out. Roderick recently usurped the throne as king and now only an infant boy survives from the [[Royal Blood|true line]]. The Black Fox, and his band of outlaws, have sworn to protect the true king.
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If this were a drama, the odds would be against them. But this is [[Played for Laughs]].
This 1955 [[Paramount]] film, written and directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, and starring [[Danny Kaye]], [[Glynis Johns]], [[Basil Rahtbone]], [[Angela Lansbury]], [[Cecil Parker]], [[Mildred Natwick]], and [[John Carradine]], has been a [[Comedy]] [[Cult Classic]] on TV for years, mercilessly mocking the conventions of [[The Middle Ages|medieval]] [[Swashbuckler]] films of the 1930s through the 1950s. A lot of it is thanks to the talent of [[Danny Kaye]], who is about as unlikely an adventure hero as you could get, and the film makes sure to milk every drop of that.
It flopped when it came out, but was later a hit on TV. Now it's on the [[American Film Institute]]'s list of "100 Years... 100 Laughs," and preserved in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
{{tropelist}}
* [[Action Girl]]: Maid Jean, especially for the standards of the time.
* [[Alliterative Name]]: Hubert Hawkins.
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* [[Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me]]: More or less happens to Maid Jean, but she uses it as a way to get the castle key needed for their plan.
* [[Birthmark of Destiny]]: The Rightful Heir (still an infant) has a birthmark on his butt. There are a couple of scenes of Hawkins holding the infant in his arms, lowering the swaddling clothes just far enough to reveal the birthmark.
* [[Bumbling Dad]]: Kind of, in that Hawkins is actually a more than competent foster father to the young king (in fact, he's the most
* [[A Child Shall Lead Them]]: The infant king.
* [[Courtly Love]]: Parodied, not only with Hawkins only doing it because he has been [[Brainwashed]], but by Danny Kaye making silly poses to spoof the almost implausible complexity of many romantic heroes.
* [[Deadly Decadent Court]]: Ravenhurst and his associates scheme murder to retain their influence with Roderick.
* [[Distinguishing Mark]]:
* [[Does Not Like Shoes]]: Jean might be an example of this but it's hard to tell if she is or the bare feet are just part of her costume in the disguise and better than wearing heels in the final scene. She does wear boots as part of her regular "outlaw uniform
* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Ravenhurst.
* [[Excuse Me While I Multitask]]: In the climactic battle.
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* [[Gambit Pileup]]: And ''how!''
* [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] / [[Hollywood Costuming]]: Supplies the heading picture for the latter. Angela Lansbury looks like she should be posing next to an Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 at the 1955 GM Motorama.
* [[Guile Hero]]: Maid Jean.
* [[Hollywood History]]: But of the [[Artistic License]] kind. Of course there has never been any Roderick on the throne of England, legitimately or illegitimately, and that any resemblance in this film to the real [[The High Middle Ages|Middle Ages]] is a coincidence not intended.
** [[Lampshaded]] in the opening song:
{{quote|''We did research --
[[Blatant Lies|Authenticity was a must]].
[[Antiquated Linguistics|Zooks!]] Did we search --
And what did we find? ''*sneeze*'' [[They Just Didn't Care|A lot o' dust!]]''
* [[Hypno Fool]]: It seems to give Hawkins skills he never had, such as seduction and sword fighting.
* [[Implausible Fencing Powers]]: Hawkins slashes a set of candles, apparently to no effect, and Ravenhurst laughs at him. Then he ''blows'' on the candles, and they fall apart.
** This is another [[Actor Allusion]], as well, as Tyrone Power had pulled a similar, if less exaggerated, bit of swordplay on Basil Rathbone's Captain Esteban in 1940's ''The Mark of [[Zorro]].''
* [[Incredibly Lame Pun]]: Kaye's song "The Maladjusted Jester" exists to lead up to "A jester unemployed / Is nobody's fool!"
* [[The Jester]]: Hawkins is forced to impersonate one to infiltrate the castle, hence the film's title.
* [[Knighting]]: Spoofed in so many ways.
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* [[Pimped-Out Cape]]: Roderick wears an [[Requisite Royal Regalia|ermine cape]] most of the time, perhaps compensating for how he got on the throne. His daughter wears one for just one scene.
* [[Pimped-Out Dress]]
* [[Princesses Prefer Pink]]: Griselda wears at least one pink outfit.▼
* [[Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo]]: One of the most famous plays on it, even if it's trying to remember which cup instead of trying to switch them.
{{quote|The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!}}
▲* [[Princesses Prefer Pink]]: Griselda wears at least one pink outfit.
* [[Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh]]: Not quite, but similar as Hawkins slaps Griswold in the face with a gauntlet repeatedly and Griswold doesn't even seem to notice that it's happening, but when Griswold slaps Hawkins in the face it nearly knocks him over.
* [[Recitation Handclasp]]: One of several postures taken (he can't seem to stand still) while Danny Kaye is singing.
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* [[Tomboy]]: Maid Jean. Her father taught her how to fight. She suspects he wanted a boy.
* [[Totem Pole Trench]]: Well actually cloak.
* [[Translation: "Yes"]]: Jean pretends to be deaf and mute, Hawkins pretends to be her grandfather. When asked by a soldier if she has seen a group in the forest, she speaks at length in sign language. Hawkins translates this as "No
{{quote|'''Soldier''': What took her so long?!
'''Kaye''': Stutters.
* [[Wicked Witch]]: Well..."''amoral'' witch" describes Griselda.
* [[You Don't Want to Catch This]]: Jean uses this tactic to fend off the king's advances.
{{reflist}}
{{AFI's 100 Years 100 Laughs}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:National Film Registry]]
[[Category:Films of the 1950s]]
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