Panama, Norman

The Court Jester

Danny Kaye spoofs Robin Hood and Scaramouche in this inventive slapstick swashbuckler. Portraying the clownish but good-hearted entertainer Hawkins, he infiltrates the court of the corrupt Basil Rathbone (up to his usual brand of cruel villainy) disguised as the legendary king of jesters, Giacomo. After a court sorceress hypnotizes Hawkins into believing he is also a legendary assassin, Hawkins has more identities than he can keep straight, and Kaye zips back and forth between them at, literally, a snap of the fingers. Comic highlights include a wonderful sword fight with Rathbone in which he constantly switches identities, and the classic "chalice from the palace/vessel with pestle" wordplay as Hawkins plays "hide the poison" and forgets where it is. With comely Glynis Johns as his spy-in-arms love interest, Angela Lansbury as the scheming princess, and Mildred Natwick as the dotty spellcaster, this is Danny Kaye at his comic best. --Sean Axmaker

The Road to Hong Kong

"The laughs come thick and fast" (Variety) in this seventh hilarious Road movie from Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Cavorting through a series of madcap adventures with Joan Collins, DorothyLamour and Robert Morleyas well as Peter Sellers, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and David NivenCrosby and Hope dish out a "fricassee of jokes and gags" (Los Angeles Times) in what may be the wildest entry in their popular film series! Vaudevillians Harry (Crosby) and Chester (Hope) travel to Tibet to search for a drug to restore Chester's memory. Once they find the cure, Chesters memory becomes so good that he accidentally memorizes a secret formula for space navigation. Soon the two meet up with a beautiful spy (Collins) and get slightly sidetracked'to another planet!

How to Commit Marriage

Bob Hope and Oscar-winner Jane Wyman star as the perfect married couple with one minor exception: They are about to announce their divorce. However their daughter is getting married. And that's just the beginning. The young couple must deal with the trials and tribulations of the groom's father (Jackie Gleason) as he tries to stop the wedding. The film was quite fitting as Bob saw his own daughter Nora get married that same year. Taking the helm as director was longtime collaborator Norman Panama. Panama directed Hope in Road to Hong Kong (the final "Road" picture) wrote That Certain Feeling Monsieur Beaucaire Road to Utopia and supplied the story for My Favorite Blonde. He also directed Danny Kaye in The Court Jester and penned the classics White Christmas and Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. The film also stars Tina Louise (Ginger of Gilligan's Island) Tim Matthieson (National Lampoon's Animal House) and Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun).System Requirements: Running Time 104 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: NR UPC: 090096098791 Manufacturer No: 60987-9

How to Commit Marriage

Not with My Wife, You Don't!

You almost have to jump to Snakes on a Plane to find a title as much fun as 1966's Not with My Wife, You Don't. While the movie doesn't quite deliver on the promise of swinging, naughty ring-a-ding-ding, it's an entertaining example of the "mustn't, shouldn't, can't" school of sophisticated sex comedy. It's "anything goes" for Air Force pilots and best friends Tom (Tony Curtis) and Tank (George C. Scott) who vie for the affections of Juliettta (Virna Lisi), a nurse. Much like David Niven and Marlon Brando in Bedtime Story, which was released a year earlier, their reprehensible actions may try viewer sympathies. When Tank is shot down, Tom keeps the news that he survived a secret so he can marry Julietta. Fourteen years later, Tank picks up his pursuit by arranging for Tom to be shipped to the Arctic for survival training. Among the '60s touchstones include a Mancini-esque score by "Johnny" Williams (later of Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark fame), stylish graphics by Saul Bass, and a witty script co-written by Larry Gelbart. Curtis is in his element, but Scott labors a bit in a role that would have once been effortless for Cary Grant ("He doesn't have my charm," Tank disagrees when Julietta compares the two). Clever touches, including an animated prologue featuring "the green-eyed monster of jealousy" and a sequence in which Julietta fantasizes the trio acting out their romantic triangle in an Italian movie, elevate Wife beyond mere guilty pleasure. --Donald Liebenson

During the Korean War, an Italian nurse (Virna Lisi) falls in love with two American fliers (Tony Curtis and George C. Scott). Lisi marries Curtis after he convinces her that Scott has been killed in a plane crash. She soon discovers Scott is alive, but remains happily married to Curtis until Scott re-enters their lives 14 years later.