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The Court Jester

The Court Jester

Music · Adventure · Comedy · 1955

A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against a usurper who has overthrown the rightful king of England.

Movie details

The Court Jester

“We asked Shakespeare and Francis Bacon would they declare which one wrote this and they both said, “Get outta here!””

1955 Music · Adventure · Comedy 1h 41m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against a usurper who has overthrown the rightful king of England.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Court Jester?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Melvin Frank · Norman Panama

Written by

Norman Panama · Melvin Frank

Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye

Hubert Hawkins

Glynis Johns

Glynis Johns

Maid Jean

Basil Rathbone

Basil Rathbone

Sir Ravenhurst

Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury

Princess Gwendolyn

Cecil Parker

Cecil Parker

King Roderick I

Mildred Natwick

Mildred Natwick

Griselda

Robert Middleton

Robert Middleton

Sir Griswold

Court is in session

Put The Court Jester on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.