Product: The Court Jester [VHS] (1956)
Rating: 5.0
Still wonderful after all these years
My husband and I just watched this last night, and laughed and laughed. It is incredible to think this movie was produced in 1955, and yet 50+ years later, it is still funny and enjoyable and not terribly dated. Danny Kaye does a wonderful job playing Hawkins/Giacomo/an assassin, and slips between these roles with ease and verve. He sings, he dances, he handles tongue-twisters with aplomb (you have to see the "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true" to appreciate it), and he is altogether a joy to watch. Seeing a very young Angela Lansbury as the Princess Gwendolyn was a joy, and Basil Rathbone is perfect as the villain (but then again, wasn't he always the perfect villain?) All in all, buy this and watch it with your family; there's nothing in this that you can't share with your children.