An old friend of mine considers this the funniest film he knows, and I'm not inclined to argue with him. Based on the Robin Hood of Errol Flynn, which had appeared 17 years before, in 1938, the Court Jester develops the other side of the coin of that vintage Sherwood masterpiece. Everyone knows the stuttering sign-language, what doges do, and the vessel with the pestle, as well as the flagon with the dragon, and magnetic armour. But there's much more. What about glamorous Angela Lansbury's "Oh, father"; and Captain Jean's "Raise your arm". Cecil Parker, as always, is a riot as the usurping monarch with cautious concern for his health, and Mildred Natwick features strongly in the only role she was born for. Kaye is at his best when snapped into devil-may-care mode, easily the equal of dastardly Basil, and the little men have a field day. I can't think of anything else to say. Brilliantly written.

The Movie was bordering on very good, and could have been so, had the director avoided or at least toned down on certain comedy sequences, that were not very original, and even had they been original, shouldn't be prolonged beyond a limit.It is a costume comedy, as had been mentioned elsewhere.An entertainer decides to joined a Robin-hood type gang, to free the nation from the pretender King Roderick (a la Prince John) and put the real King (King Richard is unnamed infant here). The critical identifier here isn't the Richard's shield, but a Purple (not scarlet) pimpernel, a birthmark carried by each member of the royal family at a certain, not publicly displayable portion of the anatomy. The Lady Marian here, ditches the Robin Hood (Black Fox), and rather decides to align her fate with the Jester (a cross between Friar Tuck and Will Scarlett, minus the valor and skill with arms). Probably being an Amazon herself, she though one fighter in a family was more than enough. To put the Infant into the throne, he has to be brought to the castle, and the two, the Jester and the Marianne become his nanny/ guardian. Where the two become separated, one pursued by the King, and other by the Princess Regent.There is a fully qualified witch, to help them, especially the Jester, whose life has to be protected, by order of the Princess. She could by magic transform the meek jester into an Erol Flynn/ Fairbank Sr type swordsman cum gallant lover. To clarify, it was Magic, not hypnotism. The other barriers could be overcome by Hypnotism, but you can't make him the best swordsman by it. Naturally the end result is known. The movie went well till about two third length. It was sufficiently paced, so that the comedy could be enjoyed. Probably after that the Director found that there were lot of budgeted reels were left blank, and to consume them he started stretching things .Breaking trance by snap of fingers is usually a Hypnotist's work, here the magician too put it as the toggle switch to change the state., but I won't harp on that. It was the number of times that was used, that became painful. And especially when it was nothing new, even for the audiences of mid fifties. Similarly the second thing, about the identification of the chalices (with poison vs without) was not only sillier, but soon became outright boring. And this too wasn't something new, it has been 'adapted' from, at least one movie I can recollect, Never Say Die (1939), of similar circumstances, duel, only there it was the mark on the compromised revolver. Both there as well as here, it, after two or three repetitions felt downright silly, especially when the actors keep on loudly repeating the phrase for all to hear. Two third of the movie is about 8 pointer, but the end one third is about 3 to 4 stars.

This is an extremely funny movie, in all sorts of ways, from very broad humor to very clever word play - a lot of the latter. While the performances are uniformly first-rate and the directing keeps this movie moving, the real key to its quality is the script. It is full of brilliant tongue twisters - Danny Kaye's specialty - delivered not just with speed, but downright brilliance by the whole cast. "The vessel with the pestle" routine is first delivered by two other characters, and both do it masterfully. You have to listen carefully to some of the word play to catch just how clever it is, but it's definitely worth it.There's nothing profound here, but that doesn't matter. This movie laughs with the joy of the pleasure to be derived from playing intelligently with language. It shows what can be accomplished by making an effort to use language well, and cleverly, rather than just spouting whatever.Note Basil Rathbone's first-rate parody of his own performances as a medieval villain in such Warner Brother costume epics as The Adventures of Robin Hood. Rathbone was a great and very versatile actor. He is as great in sending himself up as he was in the roles he parodies.

I never seem to get tired of seeing this movie. It's funny craziness executed perfectly, and I don't know of any other movie that's done it so well.I've seen comedy where everyone is funny and the main character is playing strait, but this is a movie where everyone else is playing strait and Danny Kaye is the only one playing the comedy. Screen writer for this movie should have gotten the Oscar. It's one of the best play I've ever seen. When this movie was made, it's greatness was probably never noticed, but now it's surprising that this movie was not nominated for any awards.This movie and the "Five Pennies" are probably the best movie Danny Kaye ever made. He's just fantastic as the court jester/unwitting assassin.Great comedy to watch even today.