WSR Detailed LaserDisc Review

Court Jester, The
Genre:Comedy

Reviewed In Issue 30 Of Widescreen Review® Stars:
Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury & Cecil Parker

WSR Review Scores
Picture Rating: 3
Sound Rating: 3
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Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score:
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Supplementals

DVD General Information
(Studio/Distributor): Paramount Home Video
(Catalog Number): LV5512-WS
(MPAA Rating): Not Rated
(Retail Price): $34.98
(Running Time In Minutes): 101
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): Yes
(Theatrical Release): 1955
(LD Release Date):
(THX® Digitally Mastered): No

Credits Information
(Director): Morman Panama & Melvin Frank
(Screenplay/Written By): Morman Panama & Melvin Frank
(Story): NA
(Music): Victor Shoen
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer): Hal Pereira & Roland Anderson
(Visual Effects): NA
(Costume Designer): Edith Head & Yvonne Wood
(Editor): Tom McAdoo
(Supervising Sound Editors): NA
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers): NA
(Co-Producers): NA
(Producers): Norman Panama & Melvin Frank

DVD Picture Information
(Principal Photography): VistaVision
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio): Variable
(Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio):

DVD Sound Information
(DVD Soundtrack): Mono Sound
(Theatrical Sound): Optical Mono
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(Remastered Dolby Digital): No
(Remastered DTS Digital Surround): No
(Additional Languages):

WSR Narrative Review
Story Synopsis:
The Court Jester is a hilarious musical comedy adventure that features Danny Kaye in his best role. On the run with a band of outlaws who are trying to overthrow the tyrant king, carnival entertainer Hubert Hawkins (Kaye) is a man of many faces. He poses as Giacomo The Incomparable Jester To The King so he can learn of the king’s evil intentions. Angela Lansbury stars as the king’s lovely daughter. The Court Jester has enough singing, dancing, jousting and joking to satisfy the entire family.

LaserDisc Picture:
The picture, matted at 1.75:1, exhibits eye-popping and vibrant, yet oversaturated colors that often lack detail and definition. Other times colors looks splendid and natural on the lush costumes. Fleshtones are inconsistent, sometimes appearing accurate, and other times slightly orange or brown in hue. Images are generally sharp and detailed, but lack the fine definition of movies today. Contrast and shadow delineation are generally nicely rendered, and there is minimal noise. Artifacts, however, are apparent throughout. Due to the fantastic colors of this classic comedy, it should generally please its viewers.

LaserDisc Soundtrack:
The soundtrack is undistinguished monaural that sounds compressed.
(Surround Bass Below 50Hz): No
(Aggressive System Surround): No
(Intense 25Hz Bass): No
(Deep Bass Challenging): No
(Aggressive 0.1 LFE):
(Holosonic Soundfield): No
(Aggressive Split Surround): No
(Center Back Surround Imaging): No
(Directionalized Dialogue): No
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality:
Superb Music Score Recording Quality:
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality:
Superb Color Fidelity:
Superb Cinematography:
Reference LaserDisc:
Collector Edition: