History Film / TheCourtJester

* RepeatedRehearsalFailure: Exaggerated and PlayedForLaughs ([[{{Farce}} along with everything else]]). When the group plans to pull the old PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo, first Griselda the witch warns Hubert Hawkins, "The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!" Hawkins tries to repeat the TongueTwister and messes it up, "The pellet with the poison is in the vessel with the plasle...the plasle with the plessle, er..." When [[YankTheDogsChain he finally gets it right, they break the chalice from the palace]], and bring out the flagon with the dragon to replace it, naturally leading to a HereWeGoAgain This time, Grizwold's flunkie overhears Grizelda's warning and relays it to Grizwold, which leads to both Hawkins and Grizwold mumbling and mangling the mnemonic as they try to remember which will be poisoned and which won't be.

** This is how Hawkins attempts to get himself, Jeanne, and critically the baby past a group of Roderick's guards, by pretending to be an old half-deaf wine merchant who can't properly understand their questions to waste their time until they let him past

** Roderick when Jeans tells him about the fictional scourge that he thinks killed her father.

** [[spoiler:Roderick when Hawkins's dwarf friend reveal themselves at the start of the climax.]]

* ActorAllusion: When Hawkins says, "Ravenshurst, you rat-catcher," he is not only alluding to Shakespeare's ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', but to the fact that Basil Rathbone had played Tybalt[[note]]whom Mercutio in the play insults by comparing him to "Tybalt, the King of Cats," from the beast-fable of ''Literature/ReynardTheFox''[[/note]] in the 1936 Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer film version.

** Ravenhurst, upon being told by Sir Betram that the man they believe is Giacomo is not actually him.

* TheCameo: Creator/JohnCarradine as the real Giacomo

* ChekhovsSkill: Hawkins's entertaining skills from the carnival come in very handy when he has to pose as Giacomo, making his appearance as a jester pretty convincing.

* HandicappedBadass: Hawkin's acrobat friends all have some form of dwarfism, hence why the Black Fox doesn't see the point in recruiting extra entertainers. Nonetheless, they acquit themselves well in the final battle, using their small size and acrobatic skills to hold off the guard until the rest of the Fox's troops can arrive.

* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: A variant. Hawkins and Jean plan to kidnap Giacomo the jester and have Hawkins impersonate him. They express fake concern about whether he'll be able to get admitted to the castle and ask if he's sure no one there has seen his face. A few seconds after saying "Not yet", he gets a TapOnTheHead.

* JobTitle: The protagonist is a jester.

* MistakenForBadass: Hawkins impersonates a jester, unaware that he is also an assassin. A series of well timed coincidences convince everyone he is the ruthless killer they believe he is.

** Hawkins is reluctant to knock out the real Giacomo with a login the woodman's hut, so Jean does this honors.

* TitleDrop: Jean does this after first meeting the real Giacomo in the woodman's hut.

* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: Maid Jean seems indifferent toward Hawkins at first, and the fact that Hawkins comes off as a bumbling fool, especially compared to the RobinHood {{Expy}} The Black Fox, seems to justify her attitude. When they spend some time alone together, prior to his taking the role of Giacomo the Jester, she confesses her true feelings to Hawkins, saying that she was attracted to his kindness and sensitivity; she is seen glancing longingly at Hawkins as he sings a lullaby to the infant king. She only seems cold and distant because she is focused on the task of overthrowing the usurper Roderick.

* CaptainErsatz: The Black Fox is a swashbuckling thief and outlaw leading a group in resistance against an illegitimate king from a headquarters hidden in a forest. If he were the main character of this movie, he'd probably have outright been RobinHood explicitly.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Jean might be an example of this but it's hard to tell if she is or the bare feet are just part of her costume in the disguise and better than wearing heels in the final scene. She does wear boots as part of her regular "outlaw uniform."

* WhosOnFirst: A couple. [[note]]

-->'''Griselda''': Just remember that.[[/note]]

* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: A variant. Hawkins and Gene plan to kidnap Giacomo the jester and have Hawkins impersonate him. They express fake concern about whether he'll be able to get admitted to the castle and ask if he's sure no one there has seen his face. A few seconds after saying "Not yet", he gets a TapOnTheHead.

* EpicFlail: When Hawkins faces off against Roderick, the latter knight [[WeaponOfChoice selects a mace and chain as his weapon]].

* HollywoodHistory: But of the ArtisticLicense kind. Of course there has never been any Roderick on the throne of England, legitimately or illegitimately, and that any resemblance in this film to the real [[TheHighMiddleAges Middle Ages]] is a coincidence not intended. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the opening song:

* MauveShirt: Brockhurst, Finsdale and Pertwee, who propose the alliance with Griswold in the first place to take out the group in the forest. Ravenhurst also later reveals the three have wives, [[PetTheDog and arranges to have flowers sent to their widows after they are poisoned by Griselda.]]

This 1956 musical-comedy {{Farce}} -- written and directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank and starring Creator/DannyKaye, with a supporting cast that includes Creator/GlynisJohns, Creator/BasilRathbone, Creator/AngelaLansbury, Cecil Parker, Mildred Natwick, and Creator/JohnCarradine -- mercilessly mocks the conventions of [[TheMiddleAges medieval]] {{Swashbuckler}} films of the 1930s through the '50s.

If this were a drama, the odds would be against them. But this is PlayedForLaughs. The film flopped when it came out, [[VindicatedByCable but was later a hit on TV]] and has come to be embraced as a CultClassic. This is thanks in no small part to the talents of Danny Kaye, who is about as unlikely an adventure hero as you could get, and the film makes sure to milk every drop of that.

[[quoteright:269:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/court_jester_8.jpg]]

This 1956 musical-comedy {{Farce}}, written and directed by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank and starring Creator/DannyKaye, Creator/GlynisJohns, Creator/BasilRathbone, Creator/AngelaLansbury, Cecil Parker, Mildred Natwick, and Creator/JohnCarradine, has been a CultClassic on TV for years, mercilessly mocking the conventions of [[TheMiddleAges medieval]] {{Swashbuckler}} films of the 1930s through the '50s. A lot of it is thanks to the talent of Danny Kaye, who is about as unlikely an adventure hero as you could get, and the film makes sure to milk every drop of that.

The royal family of old [[UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} England]] has been wiped out. Roderick recently usurped the throne as king and now only an infant boy survives from the [[RoyalBlood true line]]. The Black Fox, and his band of outlaws, have sworn to protect the true king.

But fate conspires to put the child in greater danger than ever before. When two of the outlaws, Hubert Hawkins and Maid Jean, try to take the child to safety, they wind up within the walls of the usurper's castle. Now they must rely on their wits to keep the child from being found.

If this were a drama, the odds would be against them. But this is PlayedForLaughs. The film flopped when it came out, [[VindicatedByCable but was later a hit on TV]].

If this were a drama, the odds would be against them. But this is PlayedForLaughs. The film flopped when it came out, but was later a hit on TV.

* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: A variant. Hawkins and Gene plan to kidnap Giacomo the jester and have Hawkins impersonate him. They express fake concern about whether he'll be able to get in and ask if he's sure no one at the castle has seen his fate. A few seconds after saying "Not yet", he gets a TapOnTheHead.

* LiteralAssKicking: Unfortunately for Hawkins, sitting at the foot of the royal throne to perform leaves his posterior in excellent position to be booted by the king and the princess.

** Brockhurst mentions early on that Ravenhurst likely fears losing his position as the king's advisor because of the alliance he (Brockhurst), Finsdale and Pertwee want Roderick to make with Griswold. Ravenhurst yells at him that he will die for that, to which Brockhurst replies, "One of us will!", before engaging in a brief sword fight. Ravenhurst later conspires to have Brockhurst, Finsdale and Pertwee killed off to prevent the alliance from going ahead.