Search - The Court Jester on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1956 DVD Release: 03/30/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Special Collection Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 41 mins Studio: Paramount Members Wishing: 54 Genres: Comedy, Adventure Comedy, Slapstick, Parody/Spoof, Satire, Musical Comedy

Danny Kaye spoofs medieval swashbucklers in this classic musical comedy. While the infant King of England awaits his rightful place as leader of the British Empire, his rule is usurped by Roderick (Cecil Parker), an evil pretender to the throne. Brave rebel leader The Black Fox (Edward Ashley) intends to remove Roderick from the palace and bring the crown back to its true owner, but in the meantime the baby king needs to be looked after, which is the job of a man named Hawkins (Kaye). The Black Fox travels with the little king and his rebels as they search for the key to a secret tunnel that will allow them passage into the castle. Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), one of the rebels, meets a man en route to the Castle who is to be Roderick's new jester. The rebels quickly hatch a plan: detain the jester and send Hawkins in his place; the king can then find the key and initiate the overthrow. Hawkins is able to persuade Roderick and his men that he is indeed a jester, but his espionage work gets complicated when Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) falls in love with him, and he runs afoul of Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), the evil genius behind Roderick. Court Jester features Kaye's famous "Pellet with the Poison" routine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Danny Kaye - Hawkins
Glynis Johns - Maid Jean
Basil Rathbone - Sir Ravenhurst
Angela Lansbury - Princess Gwendolyn
Cecil Parker - King Roderick

Norman Panama directed Danny Kaye in the comedy Court Jester, which comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. English and French soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. There are no subtitles, but the English soundtrack is closed-captioned. Supplemental materials include a theatrical trailer. This is a decent disc from Paramount that does show the age of the film being presented. This DVD will please fans of older comedies. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide