Vistavision and Technicolor labor mightily at
The Court Jester--but not half as much as Danny Kaye, who mugs and hops and bobs and weaves nonstop, his frame--somehow at once lanky and solid--bent and stretched, trying to keep up with his mouth. There's some show-stopping precision marching and tongue-twisting, and his co-star, Glynis Johns, has irresistible cats'-eyes, and certain gestures are made toward swashbuckler satire--a bit redundant, since the genre itself always seems to be half-kidding, even when it plays straight--but overall I heard the picture creak more than once, its comic sense veering a little closer to The Three Stooges than it might have desired. The bit with the midgets was cute, but even my kids seemed not entirely riveted. Where should the musical go? I'm not sure, but it may be a little too fragile for Hollywood's ham hands.
Vistavision and Technicolor labor mightily at The Court Jester--but not half as much as Danny Kaye, who mugs and hops and bobs and weaves nonstop, his frame--somehow at once lanky and solid--bent and stretched, trying to keep up with his mouth. There's some show-stopping precision marching and tongue-twisting, and his co-star, Glynis Johns, has irresistible cats'-eyes, and certain gestures are made toward swashbuckler satire--a bit redundant, since the genre itself always seems to be half-kidding, even when it plays straight--but overall I heard the picture creak more than once, its comic sense veering a little closer to The Three Stooges than it might have desired. The bit with the midgets was cute, but even my kids seemed not entirely riveted. Where should the musical go? I'm not sure, but it may be a little too fragile for Hollywood's ham hands.
Musicals you may reall were taken over by Bollywood.
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ReplyDeleteAh, but how could The Constant Viewer know this back in 1956?
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