The Court Jester: Paramount Presents Edition - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Court Jester: Paramount Presents Edition



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Despite Danny Kaye being a mega star back in the 50s, The Court Jester was not a critical success back in 1956 when it was initially released. Strangely enough, it became a bit of a cult classic back in the days of VHS and DVD, and was one of THE movies that I grew up watching in the 80s. I’ve probably watched the film once per year around Christmas time since I was about 10 years old, and have showed it off so many times that I went through not 1, not 2, but THREE copies of the film on VHS back in the day. You can be certain that I nearly went through the ceiling when I saw Paramount send out the press release and was fanning myself like a 14 year old Twilight fan who had just seen a shirtless Edward on screen. Yes, one of my absolute favorite childhood classics was coming to Blu-ray and would not only come out on Blu-ray, but get a full 6K scan and restoration from the original negative to boot and included in Paramount’s “Paramount Presents” lineup of premium films.

Like always, Paramount Presents gives us a nice fold open case with great artwork, a classy clear Blu-ray case, but most importantly, an amazing film based off of a 4K+ scan (in this case a full 6K scan was done). But the real gem is the film itself. A gaudy musical comedy of slapstick proportions, The Court Jester is one of those films that is so joyously fun and light hearted that even the over the top faux pas that sometimes dot the center act are completely wiped away. Danny Kaye was on top of the world right then, having just come off the massive success of White Christmas, and the days of Robin Hood esque period piece films was still going strong. So why not put him into a sword and armor film with his trade mark rubber face and witty dialog.

Danny Kaye stars as Hubert Hawkins, an entertainer from the circus who joined up with a merry band of Robin Hood style rebels who are fighting against a tyrannical king named King Roderick (Cecil Parker). A man who has stolen the throne from the rightful king and slaughtered all but one of his heirs in an attempt to legitimize himself. This merry band of outlaws led by the infamous Black Fox have actually stolen the last remaining heir to the throne away in the forest, but need a way to get him IN to the castle and in front of the people who believe that the original royal bloodline is dead. Thus comes Hubert Hawkins and the Black Fox’s second in command Lady Jean (Glynis Johns, most notable for being the mother in Mary Poppins, and the old grandmother in While You Were Sleeping) who stumble into the perfect way to get close to the kind and end his reign of terror. Have Hawkins take over the role a court jester named Giacomo and meet up with a spy on the inside.

Perfect plan, right? Well, it just so happens that Hawkins is walking into a proverbial hornets nest as Giacomo is actually an assassin hired by the evil Lord Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), and is expected to kill several courtiers so that HE can be right hand to the king. So in walks poor Hawkins as he’s expected to kill people he doesn’t know he’s supposed to kill, gets bewitched by the princess’s pet witch (princess being a VERY young Angela Lansbury), has to bumble his way into Ravenhurst’s good graces, get the key to the secret passage from the King, AND keep his head as a brutish Knight wishes the poor guy dead. All in a day’s work for a court jester.

The Court Jester is bar none one of THE 3 films that I have been begging the studios to release for the last 10+ years (if Disney releases Condorman I think my life will be complete), and one of my most watched DVDs from my collection. Sure, the movie is light on drama and isn’t going to win awards for best picture, but it is on fire with great character antics as Danny Kaye plies not only his slap stick machinations, but also his impressive fencing skills for the battles (he was a very skilled fencer in his private life). Basil Rathbone hams it up as the “evil” Lord Ravenhurst, and Cecil Parker is hilarious as the bumbling “tyrant” Roderick. The center act has a few lulls in the action, especially the scene with the basket where "Giacomo" introduces himself to the court", but after that the film picks up for a wildly fun 3rd act that brings it home with perfection.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Paramount’s 1.78:1 framed Blu-ray is no laughing matter though (originally 1.85:1 theatrically), as it is one of the best scans of an old film I’ve seen in a while. This is true perfection as I have NEVER seen the film look this good, even on the 35mm print that I was privy to see about 15 years ago. The film opens up a bit grainy with the opening bit from Danny Kaye, but that fades as the film proper gets under way to an unobtrusive grain presentation. Nothing is ever digitally altered or DNR’d though, it’s just the film looks THAT good and the grain that is present is very natural and small in nature vs. some of the chunky look that it CAN look. Colors are bright and cheery, but never overly red or garrish as some 50s films are prone to look. The lavish set pieces of the film really brighten up the environment and the film’s clarity is razor sharp. Except for a few optical effects (such as Hawkins swinging on the vine from window to window) the detail levels are superb and the sharpness dead on. All in all this is a fantastic looking release that does justice to the film.







Audio:

The film was recorded in Mono and Paramount has left that alone and decided not to upmix or anything. Rather it retains the 2.0 Mono track that it came with, just tweaked up to full lossless DTS-HD MA. The mix is generally very very pleasing with good dialog and a great front sound stage presence. The only issues that really crop up are some crackling in the higher registers, and the louder the film gets, the more you hear some mild distortion. It’s good, not great, but from what I could gather from interviews and discussions over the years, the original audio track isn’t in the greatest shape and this is the same attempt at a restoration that we got for the DVD release years ago, just in lossless packaging.






Extras:

• BRAND NEW 6K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL VISTAVISION NEGATIVE
• NEW A New Filmmaker Focus with film historian Leonard Maltin
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

The Court Jester is loooooooong overdue for Blu-ray, and while the greedy part of me wishes Paramount had released the 6K restored film on 4K UHD, but the Blu-ray is a delicious treat to behold as it is. The slap stick musical is still just as fun to watch as it was 65 years ago, and Paramount really did a great job with this release. Outside of the minimalist extras, this package is the best the film has ever looked or sounded, and the included artwork for the case is fantastic. Those of you who love classic musicals and slapstick comedy of ye olde days, this is the perfect flick to add to the collection.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury, Mildred Natwick, Cecil Parker
Directed by: Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
Written by: Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono, French, German DD 2.0 Mono
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German
Studio: Paramount
Rated: NR
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: January 26th 2021

Recommendation: Great Buy

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. If I win, will check it out. lol.

 

[Jack1949]

Ditto