As Gwendolyn, Lansbury is deliciously dark. I would argue that they are the cause for the majority of the film's action. One of the greatest parts of TCJ is the fact that it allows its female characters to be active. They aren't just eye candy, though, thank goodness. But honestly, who is looking at Kaye's legs when he is standing next to the film's two stunners, Angela Lansbury and Glynis Johns? With their low necks, fitted bodices, and superbly picked color schemes, Lansbury and Johns are dazzling. Kaye actually tried to avoid this by wearing "symmetricals," which were stockings padded with sponge rubber.
Everyone just looks lovely, even if some of the men have chicken legs. Where they are, I don't know."Īnother element that takes my breath away? The divine costumes of Edith Head. The minute that was over, he was closed for business, which I think is true of many of the great comic performers. If something interested him, sparked him, he came alive. There was none of that moodiness he could have elsewhere, that abruptness, ignoring people. Lansbury recounted that "e never stopped laughing. Many were aware of this, including Lansbury, who said "Danny wasn't an ensemble player - he was the one around whom everyone danced, and we all dressed to him." Surprisingly, that didn't translate to tension on the set as it often did on Kaye's films. Although he is obviously the film's star, Kaye blends seamlessly into this group and the result is a stronger, funnier film. Cecil Parker is perfection as the king, and Mildred Natwick is splendid as Lansbury's maid. Glynis Johns is nobody's damsel in distress. Angela Lansbury and Basil Rathbone (pictured above in the greatest commissary shot ever taken) are wonderfully tough and mischievous. Part of that talent is the sparkling cast. Named after Kaye's daughter and funded by Paramount Pictures, Dena Productions sought to 'prove that films can capture the quality of spontaneity that Kaye reveals onstage to an audience.' Their first effort, Knock on Wood (1954), contained promising glimpses of the company's mission, but it wasn't until the second try that Kaye would have his due." Written and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, TCJ is a skillfully rendered comedic masterpiece with exceptional talent in front of and behind the camera. As TCM notes, "The feeling that film audiences had yet to see the 'real' Danny Kaye was the motivation behind establishing Dena Productions, a venture between Kaye, director Norman Panama, and writer Melvin Frank. Hoping to show Hollywood what Kaye was capable of, Dena Productions was formed. She wrote some of his most famous work, including "Anatole of Paris" from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
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Despite their estranged relationship, Fine was brilliant and knew exactly how to best display Kaye's artistry. The wife of Kaye from 1940 until his death in 1987, Fine often wrote material for her husband in addition to helping manage his career. Is it because 80% of the time Kaye is the only one doing the musical numbers?) For TCJ's routines, Sammy Cahn and Sylvia Fine were hired as co-writers. (The same could be said for quite a few of Kaye's films actually, which is a little weird. Although the film is a comedy with a handful of musical performances by Kaye, people rarely call The Court Jester a musical.
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