Wicked clever, tuneful, beautifully produced (in VistaVision), with legit Brits blissing out in comic support, this sly Robin Hood pastiche from Norman Panama/Melvin Frank gets big laughs from tiny details & firm construction. Possibly Danny Kaye’s best film, it's certainly his funniest. Camp clown to the rebellious Black Fox, Kaye gets his chance to play hero when he goes undercover as Court Jester to Usurper King Cecil Parker, unaware treacherous henchman Basil Rathbone is expecting him for his abilities as assassin. Meanwhile, Kaye, in love with lovely captain Glynis Johns, is charged at court with wooing fair Princess Angela Lansbury, which he does under a spell of derring-do by attendant Mildred Natwick. Quite nicely, too, as long as he doesn’t snap out of it. That’s about a third of the riotous plot, all bright, clear & colorful in Ray June’s fairy tale appropriate cinematography. And if Panama/Frank underwhelm in action sequences (they might be Mel Brooks’ progenitors), they do keep Kaye & Co. from pressing the gags beyond their limit, wrapping things up with miraculous speed thanks to a baby bottom birthmark. Really funny, surprisingly charming, memorably dialogued (‘the poisoned pellet in the vessel with a pestle’), with some fine, no-kiddin’ fencing for Danny & Basil, and downright hummable (that catchy credit number!), what starts as a scary tale ends as a fairy tale.
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