The jester

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Movie
German title The jester
Original title The Court Jester
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1955
length approx. 101 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Melvin Frank ,
Norman Panama
script Melvin Frank,
Norman Panama
production Melvin Frank,
Norman Panama for Paramount Pictures
music Walter Scharf ,
Sylvia Fine ,
Sammy Cahn ,
Victor Schoen
Van Cleave
camera Ray June
cut Tom McAdoo
occupation
synchronization

The Court Jester is a 1955 American comedy film starring Danny Kaye , Glynis Johns , Basil Rathbone , Angela Lansbury and Cecil Parker in the larger roles. Melvin Frank and Norman Panama directed, scripted and produced the film . Although the film was a financial flop, it received very good reviews today and has earned cult status over the decades . The first German cinema version ran under the title The Black Fox .

action

England in the 13th century . The royal family has been murdered by the tyrannical Roderich who has usurped the throne. But a group of outlaws under the leadership of the "Black Fox" was able to save the last legitimate heir to the throne, a baby, and is now waging a partisan war against the hated king. Roderich therefore wants to make an alliance by marrying his spoiled daughter Gwendolyn with the grim Scotsman Sir Griswold von MacElwain. However, this happens much to the displeasure of Gwendolyn ("He is a flail and a monster ...") and Roderich's most powerful advisor Ravenhurst, who fears that the alliance will affect his position of trust with the king.

In a musical introductory scene, the former fairground comedian Hubert Hawkins disguises himself as the black fox together with his fellow showmen (a group of short artists). But Hubert, although he would like to fight, only has two tasks: on the one hand to entertain the rebels, on the other hand to take care of the royal child. On the other hand, the maid Jean whom he admires - in a male uniform - is allowed to serve as captain for the Black Fox. On the run from the king's troops, during which the baby is being transported in an empty wine barrel, Jean and Hawkins come closer to each other in a lumberjack's hut. There they happened to meet the Italian court jester Giacomo, the “king of fools and fool of kings”, who was hired for Roderich's court. Since Giacomo has access to the king's apartments as the new court jester and is not yet known at court, Jean knocks him down: Hawkins disguised as Giacomo is supposed to win the king's trust and steal a key that opens a secret passage to the lock and thus attacks the rebels can enable the castle.

Jean wants to bring the baby to safety, but is surprised by the king's court guard, who are looking for the “loveliest maiden in the country” for the lustful Roderich. Together with the hidden child, Jean is led to the castle. Hawkins arrives after her disguised as Giacomo at the royal court. Little does he suspect that the real Giacomo is not only active as a court jester, but is also a contract killer hired by Lord Ravenhurst . When looking for his contact in the castle, there is a serious mix-up. Instead of his actual ally, Fergus, disguised as a groom, he mistakenly sees Ravenhurst as his contact. He is introduced to the king and promises to choose a suitable woman from those who have recently arrived.

In the meantime, Princess Gwendolyn has still not come to terms with her planned marriage to Griswold and wants to kill herself and her advisor in love affairs, the witch Griselda, who had promised her a romantic lover, with a death potion. When Hawkins appears at court at the same moment, Griselda can save herself with the promise that he is Gwendolyn's true love. She promises that he will visit the princess this hour. So Griselda visits Hawkins in his apartments and enchants him with her evil eye . Through hypnosis, she puts him in the role of a fiery and passionate lover who is supposed to visit the princess in order to seduce her. A snap of the finger is enough to free Hawkins from his role again, and another to put him back in. So enchanted, Hawkins makes his way to the princess. On the way he meets Jean, whom he does not recognize due to his spell. She has now stolen the key to the secret passage from the king's room and gives it to Hawkins. When King Roderich arrives at the same moment, he thinks Jean is the woman Giacomo has chosen for him and wants her to sit by his side at the tournament. Hawkins now visits the princess and effortlessly convinces her of his erotic inflammation for her. When the two of them get closer, Gwendolyn discovers the key to the secret passage and plans to escape through the secret passage with Hawkins. She takes the key and gives Hawkins her silk handkerchief in exchange as a symbol of her love. Both are interrupted by the king's visit: Giacomo can hide, but the king discovers the key and takes it back.

Hawkins, still under the spell of Griswold, now visits Ravenhurst, who gives him two assignments: the murder of three other advisors to the king (Brockhurst, Finsdale and Pertwee) who support the alliance with Griswold, and the kidnapping of the princess from the castle . After Hawkins returns to Griselda, she frees him from the spell. By chance, Griselda overhears the king's three advisors, who have suspected Ravenhurst's murder plans and want to do everything for the successful marriage. Griselda therefore poisons the potions of the three advisors at the evening feast, and after a toast they collapse dead. At the banquet to mark the announcement of the princess’s wedding, Hawkins is called for entertainment, but has not remembered anything since his arrival due to Griselda's magical power. When Sir Griswold arrives at court shortly afterwards to complete the marriage and the alliance, the princess steps in: she reveals Hawkins, alias Giacomo, to be her lover. When her silk handkerchief is shown as proof of her love, the king has the unsuspecting Hawkins locked in dungeon.

Ravenhurst is initially satisfied with the seemingly perfect execution of his plans, but then learns from the liaison who recruited Giacomo that it is not the real Giacomo. Ravenhurst then suspects that such a daring impostor could only be the Black Fox. On the basis of this consideration, he comes up with the plan to have Griswold eliminated by the alleged Black Fox at the tournament that will take place the next day. He submits the proposal to King Roderich to knight the court jester so that Griswold can kill him. Hawkins is chased against his will through all knighthood exams the next day with the promise that he would be able to marry the princess after the accolade. In the meantime Jean was able to take the key to the secret passage back, learns of the king's plan and warns Hawkins. But before it can escape, he finds himself in the ceremony again, becomes the accolade forced and Griswold as expected to duel demanded.

Fergus sends the key and a message to the Black Fox by carrier pigeon, but is caught by Ravenhurst's men. In the meantime, the secret passage to the castle through which the fox wanted to come to Hawkins and fight for him has collapsed; There is only room in the tunnel for one child. The Black Fox decides to call on Hawkins' diminutive showmen for help. Griselda wants to decide the duel with a poisoned potion in favor of Hawkins. But the attempt fails because of the too complicated symbol for the poison, and Griswold also found out about the spell. By chance, Hawkins wins the duel, but leaves Griswold alive and with his army.

Meanwhile, the prisoner Fergus has confessed and Ravenhurst learns of the royal child in the castle. Hawkins and Jean are exposed as traitors. At the same time, Hawkins' fellow showmen were able to penetrate the castle unnoticed through the secret passage. They intervene at the court martial against Hawkins and Jean and take the court society by surprise. Jean can open the gate of the castle to the Black Fox and his allies. Eventually there is a battle between Hawkins and Ravenhurst. Griselda uses her evil eye again, and so the fencing fight takes surprising turns again and again due to Hawkins' "split personality". Ultimately, Ravenhurst is taken by surprise by Hawkin's friends and catapulted into the sea.

Just as victory is being announced by the Black Fox, Griswold, who has been called back by Roderich's supporters, steps back into the castle. Hawkins can barely prevent another fight, exposes King Roderich as a traitor and shows the child's royal birthmark as evidence. Griswold and the rest of the court recognize the rightful king.

backgrounds

After they had achieved success together with Die Lachbombe (1954) the previous year , comedian Danny Kaye and the filmmaker duo Melvin Frank and Norman Panama worked together again. With a production cost of over four million dollars, The Court Jester was an expensive film at the time, especially for a comedy, which was not least due to the lavish sets and the large cast. At the box office, however, the film grossed 2.2 million and was a huge flop . Over the decades, however, it became a popular television film, repeated countless times, in the USA and internationally.

Many of the references in the film can only be understood in the English-speaking world and with knowledge of the English-American film world. The court jester takes up many typical clichés and platitudes from the coat-and-sword films of that time and makes fun of them. For example the beautiful medieval ladies, the sinister soldiers or the knights with obscure beards, each wearing strange costumes. Last but not least, the comedy is above all a parody of the classic film Robin Hood, King of the Vagabonds (The Adventures of Robin Hood) with Errol Flynn in the title role from 1938. The Australian actor Edward Ashley , here as "The Black Fox" one Parody of Robin Hood , resembled his Australian compatriot Errol Flynn outwardly. In several places Der Hofnarr makes direct reference to Flynn's Robin Hood: The men of the Black Fox disguise themselves as monks, as in the Flynn film, to get into the castle; In addition, Danny Kaye swings himself up to the princess in a cocky manner, as does Flynn in Robin Hood .

In Robin Hood, King of the Vagabonds , Basil Rathbone had also played the villain Guy of Gisbourne , where he was also defeated in a final sword fight. Rathbone parodied his villain image by playing Sir Ravenhurst in this film. Rathbone was considered the best fencer in Hollywood and said of Danny Kaye, who had never fought before, that he was a natural. Kaye was as good as he was after just three weeks of training. Other actors in the film had already played almost the same roles in serious adventure and knight films, including Mildred Natwick (e.g. as the servant of a princess in Gegen Alle Flags ), Angela Lansbury (e.g. as Queen in Die three musketeers ).

Legendary word game

The court jester contains a now legendary dialogue about a poisoned drink, which is often recited among connoisseurs of the film: The witch Griselda poisoned one of the wine glasses that are toasted with before the duel, so that Griswold dies before he can kill Hawkins in the duel. Jean tries to help him with the help of a rhyme to remember which of the cups contains the poison:

"The wine with the pill is in the cup with the fan, the cup with the portal has the wine good and pure."
In the original: “The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true. "
(literally translated: "The globule with the poison is in the vessel with the pestle; the cup from the palace has the right brew." )

However, Hawkins not only has considerable difficulties in memorizing the rhyme - he constantly invents similar-sounding variants ( "The fan with the portal has the cup ..." - "The pill with the fan is in the cup with the cup" ), but through a mishap will also spill the wine and destroy one of the vessels. Just as Hawkins can finally recite the rhyme correctly, Griselda tells him that the " goblet with the portal" has broken and has been replaced by "a goblet with a moose" .

Hawkins should remember as a new saying:

“The wine with the pill is in the goblet with the elk. The cup with the fan has the wine good and pure. "
In the original: “The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true! "
(literally translated: "The globule with the poison is in the jar with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the right brew." )

To make matters worse, Griselda makes things more difficult by the fact that the container that previously held the pill and the poisoned wine now contains the unpoisoned, pure wine.

Coincidentally, however, a loyal Griswolds heard the conversation from close by. He tells his master about it, who in turn tries to memorize the rhyme, but finds it just as difficult as Hawkins.

Hawkins gets confused on the way to the duel, but it's not just him. Because his opponent also tries to memorize the rhyme, and both meet each other, each muttering different versions of their verses to themselves. At the end of this scene, Hawkins takes the wrong vessel anyway, tries to catch his opponent's and thus ensures that the whole toast is canceled by an objection from the king.

The scenes are comedically taken to extremes, as Hawkins' armor was previously struck by lightning and since then has repeatedly shown strong magnetic effects while Hawkins, later together with Griswold, tries to memorize the rhymes.

Kaye's daughter Dena said that at that time her father was constantly addressed in public with the pun about the "cup with the fan" etc. The whole play on words is one of the “ 400 classic movie phrases ” that were nominated by the AFI ( American Film Institute ) in 2005 for their “AFI's 100 Years… 100 Movie Quotes”.

synchronization

The German synchronous arrangement was created in 1956 in the studio of Berliner Synchron GmbH Wenzel Lüdecke in Berlin . Fritz A. Koeniger wrote the dialogue book and Klaus von Wahl directed the dubbing .

role actor Voice actor
Hubert Hawkins, a fairground entertainer Danny Kaye Georg Thomalla
Maiden Jean, captain of the rebels Glynis Johns Margot Leonard
Sir Ravenhurst, adviser to the king Basil Rathbone Erich Fiedler
Princess Gwendolyn of England Angela Lansbury Gudrun Genest
King Roderich of England Cecil Parker Alfred Haase
Griselda, witch and advisor to Gwendolyn Mildred Natwick Ursula War
Sir Griswold of MacElwain, a Scottish nobleman Robert Middleton Wolf Martini
The Black Fox, leader of the rebels Edward Ashley Wolfgang Eichberger
Captain of the Court Guard Herbert Rudley Hans W. Hamacher
Sir Locksley, Ravenhurst's right hand man Michael godfather Peter Elsholtz
Fergus, groom and contact of the rebels Noel Drayton Clemens Hasse
Giacomo, an Italian court jester and hit man John Carradine Klaus Miedel
Sir Finsdale, 2nd murdered adviser to Roderich Lewis Martin Paul Wagner
Sir Pertwee, 3rd murdered adviser to Roderich Patrick Aherne Friedrich Joloff
Sir Bertram, Ravenhurst's contact in Italy Leo Britt Horst Niendorf
Narrator (at the beginning of the film) ??? Ernst Wilhelm Borchert

Reviews

“An amusing parody of all the grimly serious knight films of the great Robin Hood family, of the adventures in the costume of the clinking weapons of the Middle Ages and the masculinity of Errol Flynn . Danny Kaye shapes the events in a bombshell, but the staging also convinces with vigor and speed and skillfully satirizes the naive pathos. "

- Lexicon of international film

“Court intrigues, a romance and deliciously funny situations give Kaye the opportunity to fully develop his great talent for comedians. (Rating: 3 stars - very good) "

- Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz , Lexicon "Films on TV", 1990

“A partially delicious parody of the numerous knight films. Bomb role for Danny Kaye, but also the direction shows superior wit. From around 14. "

- 6000 films (1963)

Awards

media

literature

  • Thomas Koebner : Der Hofnarr / The Court Jester. In: Thomas Koebner (Ed.): Classic films - descriptions and comments. Volume 2: 1946-1962. 5th edition. Reclam junior, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-15-030033-9 , pp. 300-303.

DVD release

  • The jester . Paramount Home Entertainment 2007.

Soundtrack

  • Sylvia Fine , Sammy Cahn : The Court Jester. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . On: Hans Christian Andersen · The Court Jester. Danny Kaye in The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Recordings . Varèse Sarabande, Studio City 1994, sound carrier no. VSD-5498 - digitally revised original recording of the film music, recorded under the direction of Vic Shoen .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Bräutigam : Lexicon of film and television synchronization. More than 2000 films and series with their German voice actors etc. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-289-X , p. 183 / Der Hofnarr in Arne Kaul's synchronous database ; Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  2. ↑ The Jester. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed January 28, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ^ Adolf Heinzlmeier , Berndt Schulz : Lexicon "Films on TV". Extended new edition. Rasch and Röhring, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-89136-392-3 , p. 371.
  4. ↑ 6000 films. Critical notes from the cinema years 1945 to 1958 . Handbook V of the Catholic Film Critics, 3rd edition. Verlag Haus Altenberg, Düsseldorf 1963, p. 196.