Alternate Best Actor 1955: Danny Kaye in The Court Jester

Danny Kaye did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite being nominated for a Golden Globe, for portraying Hubert Hawkins in The Court Jester. 

The Court Jester is actually a very charming semi-send-up of Ivanhoe and The Adventures of Robin Hood, about the entertainer for a Robin Hoodesque bandit group who ends up by chance impersonating the tyrannical king's jester.

I have yet to cover Danny Kaye one of the comedic stars of the period, though when I have run into his films I've more or less typically enjoyed his presence as this all at once kind of entertainer, and is ideal for a farce such as this. Now all at once I speak to Kaye really going for everything and anything required for a comic performer at the time, as he acts, sings, dances, performs much of a physical act, and really does everything, all at once, to try to entertain the audience. Ideally cast here then of course as the entertainer who has to do just about every different facet of an adventure film of the time, while also singing, dancing and getting into all sorts of comedic hi-jinks. And would I mean by that is in part at the core of it we get Kaye as the unlikely hero who wants to prove himself, as find romance in his fellow bandit Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), by keeping safe the rightful, infant, heir to the throne. Kaye has this shy charm about him and works in creating an endearing low key quality to his Hubert in providing essentially the core to the story. Not too much time is spent on this however it is important in terms of really giving the backbone to the character, who will have to go through a many of changes, and succeeds as such. This particularly with his chemistry with the equally likable Johns, as the two share just a sweet energy with one another, particularly with their similarly "timid" delivery style. 

Once the actual adventure begins by Hubert finding himself in the castle of the king and basically being mistaken for, or wanted for every little thing, we get really Kaye basically doing whatever he can to entertain. This is occasionally in the most straight forward way possible with his quick patter songs with more straight forward dances where Kaye always brings a great zest to. However what The Court Jester does so well is never really make it all that simple for him. This as the patter songs here are usually part of several different things as typically Hubert has to worry about another task within the performance, while also considering another threat, and while pretending to be the court jester and perhaps someone else. That is where the fun is and Kaye delivers on that fun through the incredible energy contained in this performance. Kaye really doesn't lose a step, unless that is of course the intention, in playing these scenes with such a fluid kind of haphazard quality to it all. I think where the film goes further though is by making use of these skills by playing on these adventure tropes, which is particularly well handled via a subplot where Hubert is hypnotized to also be the outwardly brave version of himself. There Kaye is fantastic really in getting to go full Flynn in his outwardly and aggressively confident manner, and frankly is convincing as such a force. There being some particularly wonderful moments where we get Hubert switching out from his haphazard self to the aggressively confident one and Kaye making the most of it. This in particular with his final sword fight with Basil Rathbone of course, where he puts every part of himself into the moment. This as he goes from such cowardly and frantic antics as Hubert himself, to the supreme perfection parring every sword swing from Rathbone as though it was nothing. Kaye excelling in playing off both sides with such magnificent ease, by showing that and also such hapless tomfoolery. This being the film's strength in having Kaye's chaotic energy as part of an adventure film and just going with that. This in his physical comedy here that is so key in bringing something atypical to each set piece, by having his movements so seemingly random yet in a way so precise in creating a hero who has no idea what it is that he is doing. This is just a wonderful performance this is an ideal pairing between star and role. This as Kaye gets to show really everything he has in his creative tank, but also more through the unorthodox means it is often expressed here.