The Court Jester (1955)

 Written, produced and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama

 

 

‘The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.’ This is one of the most memorable lines from The Court Jester, and rightly so.

 

The quirky, stylish film is set in England in the Middle Ages. The throne has been usurped by an impostor. A band of rebels led by the ‘Black Fox’ – a somewhat jaundiced version of Errol Flynn’s Robin Hood – want to replace him with the rightful heir, a mere baby. Hubert Hawkins (Danny Kaye), a member of the band and ex-carnival entertainer, takes on the role of the eponymous court jester, Giacomo, ‘King of Jesters and Jester of Kings’, in a bid to enter the King’s palace, trying to gain access to a secret passage through which the rebels will be able to attack. His task is made rather difficult through a most sinister villain (‘Lord Ravenhurst’, played by Basil Rathbone), lovesick princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury), intrigues galore and the witch Griselda (Mildred Natwick). The latter administers poison freely, hence the above quote, and puts a hypnotic spell on Hawkins that changes him into a daring fighter, adventurer and ladies’ man… for some of the time. The resulting complications are hilarious.

 

The Court Jester brilliantly and affectionately parodies swashbuckler films. It is awash with sword fights, scoundrels and dramatic derring-do, adding plenty of puns, jokes and songs for good measure. Danny Kaye effortlessly alternates between the likeable, slightly dopey Hawkins and the extremely confident, swaggering Giacomo. Hawkins’s comrade Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), far from being merely a love interest or decoration item, is determined, clever and good at fighting – something remarkable in a film made in 1955. The characters are memorable, sometimes slightly macabre and often extremely funny, and the musical numbers and the décor are amazing.

 

I recommend The Court Jester wholeheartedly to anyone who likes laugh-out-loud films, stylish costumes and enchanting music – and anyone who would like to see Kaye, with apparent ease and at breath-taking speed, rattle off sentences like:

 

‘The Duchess dove at the Duke just when the Duke dove at the Doge. Now the Duke ducked, the Doge dodged, and the Duchess didn’t. So the Duke got the Duchess, the Duchess got the Doge, and the Doge got the Duke!’

 

It’s funny, fascinating and irresistible.

 

S. L.-R.

 

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

Eagle vs Shark

Director – Taika Waititi

Writers – Taika Waititi, Loren Taylor (story)

Every now and again a film comes along that you didn’t expect to like, but it has so much charm that you can’t help being transfixed by it. Eagle vs Shark is one of those films. Unlike the vicious sounding creatures of the title, this is a gentle, endearing film that features belly laughs aplenty from one half of The Flight of Concords, Jemaine Clement, as the ridiculously vengeful Jarrod, the movie’s not quite soaring eagle, and Loren Taylor as the reserved, goofy Lily, the whitebait in shark’s clothing. Jarrod’s main objective in the film is to retaliate to a childhood slight that he received in school from a guy that he has a burning lust for revenge to address, the details of which he has been devising and festering over for a long, long time. Meeting Lily, who has just lost her thankless job at a fast food restaurant, gives him the chance to fulfil his feckless ambition. En route they encounter Lily and Jarrod’s whimsically wonderful extended families, propelling them towards a suitably hilarious and inappropriate ending. “It’s time to pay The Piper!”

TL-R

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Directors – Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Writers – Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Sometimes there’s a film, well, it’s the film for its time and place. It fits right in there. And that’s The Big Lebowski. It’s The Dude of cult movies. It encapsulates that lost, 1990s slacker era vibe perfectly, with its lackadaisical, so-laid-back-he’s-nearly-horizontal beach bum main character and its breezy, stoner storyline about a quest for compensation over a rug (after someone does something inadvertently nasty over it).

The main man Lebowski cuts a cool figure in the form of Jeff Bridges, spawning shabby cardigan wearing, White Russian slurping aficionados everywhere afterwards in the places that the film is shown. Ex ‘Nam vet and Lebowski’s best pal Walter, an on top form John Goodman, and their bowling buddy Donny, the essential Steve Buscemi, meet a variety of creeps and kooks in a bid to claim reparations for a rug that was mistakenly destroyed by some Nihilists when they picked the wrong Lebowski.

Philip Seymour Hoffman puts in a hilarious appearance as the other Lebowski’s personal aide, who tries to placate The Dude and Walter with his cringingly obsequious toadying manner. I think it’s that snorting laugh that makes it. Also of note is John Turturro as The Jesus, their squirm-inducing bowling nemesis with other much more unpleasant involvements.

In The Big Lebowski, The Coen Brothers create a twisted tale that cruises through dubious kidnappings, insane Nihilists (one with a rabid ferret, of course), suspicious pornographers, abrasive alternative artists, and another older Lebowski who puts everything in motion to mess with The Dude, all swerving down unexpected routes in this unassuming, sumptuous-looking indie classic. If you don’t watch this film, you’re entering a world of pain.

TL-R