dual personalities

Tag: Danny Kaye

June 5, 2020

For whom the bell tolls merrily

by chuckofish

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Daughter #2 has had her baby!

IMG_6602Look at that little face!

I toasted little Katiebelle Wednesday night…

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…and again yesterday afternoon with my pals…

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…and I will go on toasting her and her brilliant mother on through the weekend. You betcha.

The OM and I were in a quandary about what to watch Wednesday night, so we landed on The Court Jester (1955), which in case you don’t recall, has a baby at the center of the plot. Set in medieval England, it concerns the struggle to restore to the throne the rightful heir, a baby with a distinguishing birthmark—the purple pimpernel on his posterior. Danny Kaye plays Hubert Hawkins, an ex-carnival entertainer who becomes minstrel to the Black Fox, a Robin Hood-type character who leads a band of rebels in the forest in support of the true infant-king.

Screen Shot 2020-06-04 at 8.56.40 PMThe film is full of comedic exchanges such as “Get it?” “Got it.” “Good!” and “The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!” I found it to be very diverting and a lot of fun. I always liked Danny Kaye, and if you like him in White Christmas, you will love him in this.

Screen Shot 2020-06-04 at 12.59.03 PMThe excellent supporting cast includes Basil Rathbone, Glynis Johns, Angela Lansbury, and Mildred Natwick. Together they manage to spoof movies like The Adventures of Robin Hood without going overboard. The production values are very high. The script is genuinely clever.

As it unfolds you’ll see
What starts like a scary tale ends like a fairy tale
And life couldn’t possibly better be.

So try it, maybe you’ll like it!

And praise the Lord for precious babies and their brilliant mothers.

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April 2, 2019

“You’re a very fine swan indeed! “*

by chuckofish

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“To be born in a duck’s nest in a farmyard is of no consequence to a bird if it is hatched from a swan’s egg. He now felt glad at having suffered sorrow and trouble, because it enabled him to enjoy so much better all the pleasure and happiness around him; for the great swans swam round the newcomer and stroked his neck with their beaks, as a welcome.”

–Hans Christian Andersen, “The Ugly Duckling” (1843)

Some say that Andersen considered this story to be autobiographical. As a child, he was mocked for his big nose and large feet, as well as for his beautiful singing voice and love of theater. There were also rumors that Hans Christian Andersen was the illegitimate son of King Christian VIII of Denmark! It is a story that many children can relate to on some level–at least those who feel excluded in some way from their peers.

Anyway, today is the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen (1805 – 1875), the great Danish writer, who is the author of many personal favorites. Our mother could not read through “The Little Match Girl” without weeping, which was quite disconcerting to me as a small child.

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I will toast him tonight and perhaps listen to Danny Kaye singing about the Ugly Duckling…

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Man oh man, the things people put on YouTube!

*Frank Loesser, “The Ugly Duckling”

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December 5, 2011

In some ways, you’re far superior to my cocker spaniel.

by chuckofish

Well, as they say, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. And that means: Christmas movies! This month I will be blogging about my favorites. First off: White Christmas (1954) directed by one of my favorites, Michael Curtiz, and starring the most wonderful cast ever, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, who had to be the model for the original Barbie Doll.

In this well-written, fast-paced musical film, a successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general. Sentimental and G-rated, it somehow never seems dated. This has to be because of the witty script and the stellar cast, not to mention the great tunes by Irving Berlin.

I have seen this movie every year since my family had a television and my sister (and dual personality) and I knew the whole Sister Act scene by heart and frequently regaled our family with our rendition.

When my husband and I bought our first VCR in 1986, the first video we bought was White Christmas. It was so great not to have to wait and see when it would be shown on TV–and no commercials! My kids loved it too and it was a big event and the start of the Christmas season to watch it all together. One year in elementary school daughter #1 wanted to be Betty Haynes for Halloween! (I talked her out of it.)

The movie even has a reference to Smith College (which both dual personalities attended).

Bob Wallace: You don’t expect me to get serious with the kind of characters you and Rita have been throwing at me, do you?
Phil Davis: Well, there have been some nice girls, too, you know.
Bob Wallace: Oh yeah, yeah. Like that nuclear scientist we just met out in the hall.
Phil Davis: All right, they didn’t go to college. They didn’t go to Smith.
Bob Wallace: Go to Smith? She couldn’t even spell it.

What could be better than that?

After the Advent Service of Lessons and Carols, White Christmas is truly the beginning of the Christmas season.

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