5/17/2023 0 Comments Amazon the court jesterBut the unabashed sunniness of films like The Court Jester, a distinctly American variety of optimism (despite the English setting), is something missed as a mainstay of popular culture. And that’s not inherently bad genres should be able to encompass a variety of points of view. Comedy and fantasy can still be colorful and glass-half-full in outlook, but as both genres have expanded over time, there’s also been a trend towards more complicated, and more cynical, narratives. Perhaps the aspect of The Court Jester most like its era, and most appealing today, is its bright optimism. Potts, The Court Jester is worth a watch just to see what she can do with an empty-headed comic part. If you only know Lansbury through roles such as kindly Mrs. She who would be the Maid Marian figure in a true swashbuckler is instead a self-absorbed dilettante of romance who holds the threat of death over her hapless witch-counselor Griselda ( Mildred Natwick) if she can’t deliver a gallant suitor. It brings laughs to the genre without belittling or subverting it – except for the princess Gwendolyn, played by a young Angela Lansbury. The result is a hilarious succession of mistaken identities and crossed-wire schemes by heroes and villains alike. The Court Jester is more a comedy of errors than a total parody, with many of the traditional adventure story beats played seriously but with the “wrong” protagonist cursed with bad timing. Hawkins himself isn’t stupid or incompetent, only unprepared and uninformed. His time with it isn’t made any easier through bumbling of the villains Cecil Parker’s evil king may have a comic side to him, but Basil Rathbone’s Lord Ravenhurst is the true antagonist, and every bit as cunning and ruthless as the baddies Rathbone played in straight swashbucklers. Hawkins doesn’t get caught in such a predicament because of any failure or betrayal by the hero the Black Fox is as loyal, courageous, and clever as Robin Hood. Tasked with moving the royal baby to safety, he ends up caught in a web of intrigue inside the false king’s castle, pulled hither and yon by disguises, treachery, and hypnotic sorcery. Hawkins has the desire and the heart for more harrowing service to the cause, but not the skills or the steady nerve. The film looks through the eyes of Hubert Hawkins ( Danny Kaye), a minstrel who entertains the Black Fox’s band and helps care for the legitimate (infant) heir to the throne. This is no traditional swashbuckler following the adventures of its highwayman, however. The opening premise – a usurper holds the throne of England, a dashing outlaw defies his villainy – is unashamedly borrowed from the legend of Robin Hood, with a dash of Zorro thrown in (the outlaw wears a mask and is called the Black Fox). But it is a film that knows what genre it’s lampooning. The Court Jester isn’t nearly so aggressive in its references, and there were no Internet memes for it to try and capitalize on in 1955. Some might even say the style’s become too ubiquitous, and that chasing after trends like this is more a detriment than a delight – but that’s for another day. Whether it’s Disney poking its own well-worn conventions of princesses and romance, Spider-Man: No Way Home winking toward that famous pointing meme, or every single time your friends and relations share some variation on a meme through social media, meta humor is all around us. In the age of the Internet, we’re all accustomed to self-referential media. The Court Jester is a send-up, and in that respect is well-suited to certain audiences of today. For all its bright colors and gentle humor, though, The Wizard of Oz is a straightforward fantasy.
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