Pre-Order Paramount Presents! The Court Jester (1955) (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Rob W]

Just a thought... but hoping Paramount also makes a digital 4K edition available the way they have with To Catch A Thief , War of the Worlds and King Creole.

 

[Rodney]

Now this is what I was expecting from Paramount for this line! Pre-ordered, cannot wait to get this.

 

[Billy Batson]

Glad this VistaVision classic is getting a proper blu ray release. Now if we could have the same treatment for LIL' ABNER.

Oh yes

 

[Matt Hough]

Delighted to read of this release. I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation on Amazon Prime a month or so ago, and I will eagerly add the Blu-ray to my collection and gift my DVD to a friend.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

The Criterion Channel (and later Amazon prime) had the new restoration and it looks jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Really happy to be finally retiring so many Paramount DVDs lately.

I also saw it streaming likewise. Crossing fingers they don't somehow botch the release to disc... though would also love for an additional release in 4K streaming (especially via iTunes) as someone else also mentioned...

_Man_

 

[Ejanss]

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a Goldwyn film, which places it with Warner. I don’t much about its availability aside from the fact that it’s not on Blu-ray.

With MGM gone, the vintage Bob Hope/Danny Kaye Sam Goldwyns were bought up by the Weinstein's at one point, IIRC?
And with Miramax gone, they're currently available as streaming orphans on Amazon Prime, for those who want to rent, Walter Mitty included.

 

[Mark-P]

Oh goody. This means the old transfer on iTunes will finally be updated to the new one that’s been on Amazon Prime, and likely to be 4K as well.

 

[Patrick McCart]

With MGM gone, the vintage Bob Hope/Danny Kaye Sam Goldwyns were bought up by the Weinstein's at one point, IIRC?
And with Miramax gone, they're currently available as streaming orphans on Amazon Prime, for those who want to rent, Walter Mitty included.

Some of the Goldwyn titles on streaming still have MGM logos from the 2000s, so it may just be that no one has bothered to update the masters yet. Warner Bros. distributes the Goldwyn library on home video now - though, only Dodsworth, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Bishop's Wife, Hans Christian Andersen, and Guys and Dolls have made it to Blu-ray so far.

 

[ChrisOC]

Criterion Channel had a spotlight on Kaye's films that consisted mainly of his Goldwyn features plus this, but I found Wonder Man, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and A Song is Born to be incredibly fun.

There's a nice 4-movie set of Kaye's films at the Goldwyn studio: Wonder Man, A Song Is Born, Up In Arms, and The Kid From Brooklyn. It's on DVD-R and there are no extras, but each film is on a separate disk and the print quality is very good. Just FYI. I expect there will be BDs somewhere along the way, but this will suffice easily until then.

This set is produced by Warner Archive, and only the Goldwyn name appears on the actual prints.

 

[ChrisOC]

Wonderful news! Whenever I’m feeling down I put on “the pellet with the poison...”. Whoever thought up that was a genius. Good song score too, especially “The Maladjusted Jester”.
Glynis Johns is also terrific as is Basil Rathbone, perfect in his Sheriff of Nottingham-type role.

All the actors are terrific in that film. I imagine the set was a happy one.

I read somewhere that Rathbone was an experienced fencer in sport and on stage (not the same thing), and he was impressed with Kaye's fencing talent. I expect it was difficult for him to keep a straight face during their duel, though. He did the slow burn extremely well, and his exit is one of the best ever in comedy, even better than Monty Python.

 

[PMF]

I'll raise my hand and say I've never seen it! Looking forward to picking this up and fixing that!

Truly, you Jest.

Hey, short of its first theatrical release, you could not have picked a better time or way to be initiated.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Pre-ordered the second I saw it was available. One of my absolute favourites.

 

[Billy Batson]

I first saw the new restoration on The Criterion Channel and you are correct: it is jaw-droppingly beautiful!

I think the first (& quite possibly the last) time I saw this was on TV in the sixties, & I don't remember anything about it, but it's the first Paramount Presents release that I've fancied buying, especially when I read so many great things about the PQ.

 

[DBF]

I'm looking forward to seeing this!

"uh, the TERMS, the TERMS..."

 

[Ejanss]

I'm looking forward to seeing this!
"uh, the TERMS, the TERMS..."

(cuff!) We've HAD the terms!

 

[filmnoirguy]

The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon. The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true. Just remember that.

In 2004, The Court Jester was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

 

[Waldo Lydecker]

A little more than his “Songwriter/partner”, Danny credited Sylvia Fine for his career... Married for almost fifty years, she tweaked his persona by writing the witty “patter” songs that were to become his trademark. She also penned the classic “Lullaby of Ragtime”...

 

[Randy Korstick]

Always great to have another Kaye film on Blu Ray. Not one of my favorites but a good Kaye vehicle. I prefer him when he was younger and even more energetic in the Goldwyn films of the 40's. That said I will definitely pick this up. Wonderman and Secret Life of Walter Mitty are my favorites with Kid from Brooklyn a close 3rd.

 

[PaulaJ]

The restored Court Jester was so drop-dead gorgeous on the BIG BIG screen at the TCL Chinese Theater during the 2017 TCM Film Festival. I've been hoping ever since for a Blu-ray, though I'll always have the memory of the theatrical experience in my head while watching it on the home screen.

 

[Matt Hough]

Speaking of Sylvia Fine, she did a wonderful series of three PBS specials called Sylvia Fine Kaye's Broadway in which big stars of the era would recreate a famous number from a great Broadway musical. She even recruited Danny to recreate his original Broadway performance of "Tchaikovsky" from Lady in the Dark.