My early thirties year old lodger and I did the "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle" routine about two hours ago. Realistically we were probably the only people in London that did. Yet the fact that the film still resonates has to count for something. It's just fun.

I won't pretend like I'm the biggest fan of Danny Kaye, given that the only other projects I've seen him in are "The Inspector General" and his guest appearance on The Muppet Show. However, I feel like this movie is to Danny Kaye what Muppet Treasure Island was for Tim Curry: a must-see for any and all who want others to join in worship of their idol.The film borrows a few elements from Robin Hood: band of rebels in a forest, evil usurper sitting on the throne, romance, swordplay, antics for everyone. However, the focus of the film is, in fact, the bumbling sidekick that no one expects anything of. Hawkins (played by Kaye), after he's done singing musical numbers while impersonating his boss, finds himself caught up in a plot to oust the tyrant usurper and restore the rightful heir: a small baby with an obviously painted flower on his left buttock. And even though Hawkins is as bumbling as bumblers get, he manages to woo a princess, insult nobility, assassinate royal advisers, and avoid any morning stars on a collision course with his cranium.Like I said, this movie has about everything Danny Kaye can bring to the table in it: he jumps around, he swings on ropes, he's bumbling, he talks quickly, he sings, he dances, he injures himself for our amusement, he steals props from the set (seriously, look that up on YouTube; he's even more over-the-top as himself), he's just all-around a great lead.And, to the movie's credit, the songs are pretty entertaining as well. "The Maladjusted Jester" is one of the best solo numbers I've ever seen in a movie, certainly a cut above the stuff that roles out from The Muppets or whatever hot new band is being paraded around by record companies. "The Black Fox" number in the beginning is also wonderful, being mysterious and quick like its subject matter, as well as providing a good fake-out for first time viewers.Overall, I have no complaints about this movie. The story's great, the songs are great, the characters are great, the comedy's great, and Danny Kaye is FANTASTIC.

This film looks crisp. The sets are beautiful. The matte work that allows the castle set to appear like it's sitting over Pacific Coast cliffs are nice. The film definitely cost money. And I was charmed by the clever "Outfox the Fox" number which I originally saw on YouTube. People's raves made me check it out.But those things are all it has going for it. The characters have nothing to do, and the script is a half-effort. The comedy is extremely weak, composed of fleeting gags that are bloodlessly run through their paces without having been mined for any potential. It's like a first draft with place-holders for the jokes. "The chalice from palace" shtick isn't funny even once and just pointlessly kills time until even the characters reject it, so they can move on. I can see why you might enjoy it with your kids, but it's pretty poor for mature viewers. My father absolutely hated Danny Kaye, and his whole generation responded with no more than tepid interest. Which meant there was no trick to missing his entire output as I was growing up. T.C.J. is not godawful. It doesn't make me wince in pain, but this is a lot of foolishness with little or no comic substance. There's a dumb finger-snapping gag. There's Kaye acting like a putz. There's 300 dumb repetitions of "Get it?" "Got it!" "Good!" This is not comedy gold, more like comedy tin. I may have laughed twice.

Plushly-produced, well-directed and cast spoofing of knights and swordsmen spectacles has a disparate forest tribe in medieval England opposing the royal kingdom, sending Danny Kaye into the castle as an infiltrator under the guise of a jester. Fairly smart comedic vehicle for Danny allows the star to shine in several funny set-pieces despite a script which loses tracks of its own sub-plots. The celebrated "chalice from the palace" routine is nearly rendered inconsequential when nothing is ever done with the chalice, however the infrequent songs are amusingly interspersed with the action and the supporting players (including wonderful Glynis Johns as Maid Jean, Basil Rathbone and Angela Lansbury) are very colorful. Energetic without being frantic, and memorably pleasant. **1/2 from ****