A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
Grade: 65
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is a Mark Twain satire that has been frequently reinvented by Hollywood since the silent era. The protaganist's age and occupation is changed, as is the story's tenor. In this version, the Yankee is played by a middle-aged Bing Crosby, and Camelot becomes the setting for various musical numbers.
Turn of the century blacksmith Hank Martin (Crosby) is somehow sent to the era of Camelot by a blow to the head. He is soon captured by dim-witted Sir Sagramore (William Bendix), and taken to King Arthur's court. Magician and requisite villain Merlin (Murvyn Vye) convinces Arthur (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) to sentence Crosby to death. Crosby escapes this and other hazardous situations through clever improvising. He also woos a court beauty (Rhonda Fleming, whose Patti Page-styled vocals don't seem contemporaneous with the dark ages) incurring the jealous wrath of humorless Sir Lancelot (Henry Wilcoxon).
Hardwicke's elderly, sneezy King Arthur seems patterned after Harry Davenport's King Louis from 1939's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". The long white hair, the mildly cantankerous personality, and the sense of fairness are the same. Unlike Davenport, however, Hardwicke gets a musical number, and watching him in a chorus line with Crosby and Bendix may be the film's best moment.
At worst slow and tedious, at best mildly amusing, and with a script that is only adequate, the wonder is that the film holds together. Despite its baggage, it is a good movie. Credit goes to first to the sets and costumes, which are colorful and successfully evoke the era of King Arthur. Crosby has a laconic charm that is uniquely his, and Bendix makes a good sidekick. Now if one could only accept the preposterous coincidence of a total eclipse occuring at the same time as Crosby's scheduled execution...
kollers@mpsi.net http://members.tripod.com/~Brian_Koller/movies.html
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