The Court Jester (1955)
Danny Kaye: Hubert Hawkins
Photos
Quotes
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Hawkins : I've got it! I've got it! The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true! Right?
Griselda : Right. But there's been a change: they broke the chalice from the palace!
Hawkins : They *broke* the chalice from the palace?
Griselda : And replaced it with a flagon.
Hawkins : A flagon...?
Griselda : With the figure of a dragon.
Hawkins : Flagon with a dragon.
Griselda : Right.
Hawkins : But did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle?
Griselda : No! The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!
Hawkins : The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true.
Griselda : Just remember that.
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King Roderick : The Duke. What did the Duke do?
Hubert Hawkins : Eh... the Duke do?
King Roderick : Yes. And what about the Doge?
Hubert Hawkins : Oh, the Doge!
King Roderick : Eh. Well what did the Doge do?
Hubert Hawkins : The Doge do?
King Roderick : Yes, the Doge do.
Hubert Hawkins : Well, uh, the Doge did what the Doge does. Eh, uh, when the Doge does his duty to the Duke, that is.
King Roderick : What? What's that?
Hubert Hawkins : Oh, it's very simple, sire. When the Doge did his duty and the Duke didn't, that's when the Duchess did the dirt to the Duke with the Doge.
King Roderick : Who did what to what?
Hubert Hawkins : Oh, they all did, sire. There they were in the dark; the Duke with his dagger, the Doge with his dart, Duchess with her dirk.
King Roderick : Duchess with her dirk?
Hubert Hawkins : Yes! The Duchess dove at the Duke just when the Duke dove at the Doge. Now the Duke ducked, the Doge dodged, and the Duchess didn't. So the Duke got the Duchess, the Duchess got the Doge, and the Doge got the Duke!
King Roderick : Curious. I... I... hm? What? What's that? All I heard was that the Duchess had a siege of rheumatism. She's 83, you know.
-
Hubert Hawkins : [disguised as an old man] Have you seen a group in the forest?
[Jean, pretending to be a deaf mute, makes a lot of hand gestures in response]
Hubert Hawkins : She says, "No."
Captain of the Guard : What took her so long?
Hubert Hawkins : Stutters.
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Griselda : Listen. I have put a pellet of poison in one of the vessels.
Hawkins : Which one?
Griselda : The one with the figure of a pestle.
Hawkins : The vessel with the pestle?
Griselda : Yes. But you don't want the vessel with the pestle, you want the chalice from the palace!
Hawkins : I don't want the vessel with the pestle, I want the chalice from... the what?
Jean : The chalice from the palace!
Hawkins : Hmmm?
Griselda : It's a little crystal chalice with a figure of a palace.
Hawkins : The chalice from the palace has the pellet with the poison?
Griselda : No, the pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle.
Hawkins : Oh, oh, the pestle with the vessel.
Jean : The vessel with the pestle.
Hawkins : What about the palace from the chalice?
Griselda : Not the palace from the chalice! The chalice from the palace!
Hawkins : Where's the pellet with the poison?
Griselda : In the vessel with the pestle.
Griselda : The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.
Jean : Don't you see? The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle.
Griselda : The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!
Jean : It's so easy, I can say it.
Hawkins : Well then you fight him!
Griselda : Listen carefully. The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.
Hawkins : The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle, the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.
Jean : Good man!
-
Hubert Hawkins : I'd like to get in, get on with it, get it over with, and get out. Get it?
Ravenhurst : Got it.
Hubert Hawkins : Good.
-
Hawkins : When I was a lad, I was gloomy and sad / As I was from the day I was born / When other babes giggled, and gurgled and wiggled / I proudly was loudly forlorn. / My friends and my family, looked at me clammily / Thought there was something amiss / When others found various antics hilarious / All I could manage was this
[looks at his hands]
Hawkins : or this
[gives a small smile]
Hawkins : or this
[gives a short giggle]
Hawkins : or this
[gives a weird giggle/whimper]
Hawkins : My father he shouted, "he needs to be clouted / His teeth on a wreath I'll hand him!" / My mother she cried, as she rushed to my side / "You're a brute and you don't understand him!" / So they sent for a witch with a terrible twitch / To ask how my future impressed her / She took one look at me / And cried, "He, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, he, *HE*! / What else could he be but a jester?" / A jester? A jester? A funny idea, a jester / No butcher, no baker, no candlestick maker / And me with the look of a fine undertaker / Impressed her as a jester? / But where was I to learn any comical turn? / It was not in a book on a shelf / No teacher to take me, to mold me and make me / A merry man, fool or an elf / But I'm proud to recall that in no time at all / with no other recourses but my own resources / with firm application and determination/ I made a fool of myself!
-
[first lines]
Hawkins : Life could not better be / Better be, better be / It could not possibly / No sirrah, sir-rah, sirree! / Songs could not gayer be / Sound your do-re-o-mi, re-mi-fa-so-la-see, fa-la-la-la follow me! / Why be gloomy? / Cut thy nose off to spite thy face? / Listen to me / A nose is hard to replace! / Skies could not bluer be / Hearts in love truer be / I say for you or me / Life couldn't possibly, not even probably / Life couldn't possibly better be! Life could not better be / On a medieval spree / Knights full of chivalry / Villains full of villainy! / You see, as you suspect / Maidens fair in silks bedecked / Each pride and true effect / For the umpteenth time we resurrect! / We did research / Authenticity was a must! / Zooks! Did we search! / And what did we find? Ah-choo! A lot of dust! / After the dust had cleared / Half the cast had a beard / And I'm the one, as you can see / For whom the bell tolls merrily. / We asked Shakespeare / And Francis Bacon, "Would they declare / which one wrote this?" / And they both said, "Get outta there!" / Which brings us to the plot / Plot we've got quite a lot / As it unfolds, you'll see / What starts like a scary tale, ends like a fairy tale / And life couldn't possibly better be!
-
Hawkins : I was battered and bruised, but the king was amused / and before the siesta, he made me his jester / and I found out soon, that to be a buffoon / was a serious thing as a rule! / For a jester's chief employment, is to kill himself for your enjoyment / and a jester unemployed is nobody's fool!
-
Hawkins : I started to travel to try to unravel / my mind and to find a new chance / When I got to Spain it was suddenly plain / that the field that appealed was the dance. / The Spanish were clannish, but I wouldn't vanish / and learned every step they had planned. / The first step of all wasn't hard to recall / Cause the first step of all is to stand. And stand. And stand. And stand...
-
Hawkins : Good stock. Good battle. Good-bye.
-
[picking his weapon for the joust against Griswold]
Hubert Hawkins : I'll take one of those, one of those, ooh, a couple of those.
[he pauses and glances over at Griswold]
Hubert Hawkins : I'd better take them all.
-
Griselda : I bring you a message from the princess.
Hubert Hawkins : The royal princess?
Griselda : Yes, she finds you most attractive and would like to meet you.
Hubert Hawkins : Me?
Griselda : She finds you passing fair, passing gracefully.
Hubert Hawkins : Tell her, "Thank you very much, but I'm just passing through."
-
Hawkins : After months of pleading for just this kind of action, what makes you think that anybody, anybody could make me reveal the identity of my confederate?
Jean : Because they'd put you on the rack, crack your every bone, scald you with hot oil, and remove the nails off your fingers with flaming hot pincers.
Hawkins : I'd... like to withdraw the question.
-
Fergus : I'm Fergus, the Ostler.
Hawkins : Who-whogus the Whatsler?
Fergus : Fergus, the Ostler. It is I, not Ravenhurst, who is your friend.
Hawkins : [ushering Fergus back to the window] Look, my good man, you pick your friends, and I shall pick mine. At the moment, I have a very important mission with the king. After all, I am the incomparable Giacomo, king of jesters and jester of kings.
[Griselda enters unnoticed]
Hawkins : I have entertained in all the courts of Europe and speak a ready wit in their every tongue.
[turns and runs into Griselda]
Hawkins : [without missing a beat] Now, who are you?
Griselda : I am Griselda.
Hawkins : Gri-who-lda?
-
King Roderick I : What are you loo-loo-looing about?
Hubert Hawkins : Oh, I'm not loo-loo-looing, Sire, I'm willow-willow-wailing.
King Roderick I : All right, all right. Willow away, willow away.
-
Ravenhurst : I bid you welcome. I am Ravenhurst.
Hawkins : [laughing] Ravenhurst!
[seriously]
Hawkins : R-R-Ravenhurst? Uh, the 'real' Ravenhurst?
Ravenhurst : What?
Hawkins : Uh, I mean, does the king know? D-does the king know about your being the real Ravenhurst?
Ravenhurst : Keep your jests for the king.
-
Hawkins : What manner of man is Giacomo? Ha ha! I shall tell you what manner of man is he. He lives for a sigh, he dies for a kiss, he lusts for the laugh, ha! He never walks when he can leap! He never flees when he can fight (thud) oop! He swoons at the beauty of a rose. And I offer myself to you, all of me. My heart. My lips. My legs. My calves. Do what you will - my love endures. Beat me. Kick me. (kiss, kiss) I am yours.
-
Captain of the Guard : [Hawkins is being tested for knighthood] He must scale a stone wall in full armor.
[Hawkins is tossed over the wall]
Captain of the Guard : The candidate passes!
[later]
Captain of the Guard : With longbow, he must slay a hawk in full flight.
[a hawk with an arrow is tossed on the ground]
Captain of the Guard : He passes.
Hawkins : But I didn't even shoo...
Captain of the Guard : [shouts] The candidate passes!
[later]
Hawkins : But I didn't even shoot the arrow!
Captain of the Guard : [later] The candidate must conquer a wild boar with his bare hands. Release the boar!
[a piglet comes out of a chute followed by sound effects of splashing in the mud]
Captain of the Guard : He passes!
-
Princess Gwendolyn : If my father hears of this our necks will snap like twigs!
[she snaps her fingers, causing Griselda's spell to break and Hawkins to start panicking]
Hawkins : Uh, like what?
Princess Gwendolyn : Twigs!
[she snaps again, putting the spell back in place and Hawkins to stop panicking]
Hawkins : Twigs? Speak not of twigs when you look at an oak! Until tonight, my little sapling.
-
Hawkins : He's right. Rules of chivalry, you know.
King Roderick I : Rules of chivalry be hanged! And so will you!
Hawkins : [referring to Gwendolyn] She'll jump.
-
[Hawkins sings a lullaby to the baby]
Hawkins : Loo, loo, loo, I'll take you dreaming through the rainy night / To a place behind the raindrops where the stars are bright / You may not find gold or silver, but a richer prize / Waits for you behind the raindrops if you close your eyes / Tonight, tonight, when all the world's asleep / We will tiptoe home with a wondrous star, a star you can always keep / And years from now when you go dreaming, when you're very old / Though your crown be rich with rubies, diamonds set in gold / None will shine as bright as the star we'll find, tonight...
[puts the baby to bed]
Hawkins : Tonight, tonight / When all the world's asleep / We will find a star / That you can always keep...
-
Black Fox : Hawkins, how many times have I told you to stay out of my clothes? And who are these little people?
Hawkins : Oh, these are my friends, sir. They used to work with me at the carnival. They're the finest troupe of acrobats and tumblers in all of England.
Black Fox : But why did you bring them here?
Hawkins : Well, they, too, would be part of our group, sir. They feel as strongly as we do about the tyranny, and would join in our worthy cause.
-
Black Fox : Hawkins, I don't mean to be disparaging to your little friends, but weapons are limited, and...
Hawkins : Oh, I didn't intend for them to fight, sir. I-I... I merely thought that they would take over my chores of entertaining the men. Then perhaps I'd be free to bear arms myself, sir. And come to grips with the enemy, face to face and steel to steel, fist to fist, sir.
Black Fox : Hmm. Little friends, I'm sorry, but food and weapons are limited, so you see...
One of Hermine's Midgets : We'll do anything for Hawkins, sir. He always was our friend.
Black Fox : I'm sorry. There's no time to discuss it. Please go, quickly and without detection.
One of Hermine's Midgets : Well, if you ever need us, call us.
Black Fox : Thank you. I shall.
-
Black Fox : Hawkins, the recruits will be here in a moment. Get the child.
Hawkins : The child. Uh, I-I hate to keep mentioning this, sir...
Black Fox : Just get the child.
Hawkins : Well, sir, you know I'd do anything for His Majesty, but don't you think it would look better if a woman...
Black Fox : Tend to your duty! And get out of my clothes!
-
Ravenhurst : What is the first step?
Hawkins : Get me to the king's chambers.
Ravenhurst : King's chambers?
Hawkins : Yes.
Ravenhurst : Very well. If you say so.
Hawkins : That may be the "key" to the whole plan. Get it?
Ravenhurst : Got it.
Hawkins : Good.
-
Jean : I'm sorry I... I spoke in the manner I did. I was wrong.
Hawkins : Y-Yes, Captain.
Jean : There's something else I'd like to say.
Hawkins : Yes?
Jean : I *am* a woman... and I do have feelings.
Hawkins : I-I... I find it hard to believe that... the captain could ever be fond of a man who... isn't a fighter.
Jean : Sometimes tenderness and kindness can also make a man. A very rare man.
Hawkins : Could the captain ever... could the captain ever entertain thoughts of... marriage with such a man?
Jean : Yes, Hawkins. I think she could. And would. If things were different.
Hawkins : How dif-different?
Jean : The infant on the throne and... our fight for freedom won.
Hawkins : Why does such a little girl have to do such a big job?
Jean : It's the way I was brought up. My father's influence. You see, my father made me everything I am.
Hawkins : He does beautiful work.
Jean : [as she talks, he tenderly kisses her around the mouth] He taught me how to... love freedom and... hate injustice... the use of... of weapons and... how to fight. In fact... I think he... he really wanted me to... be a boy.
Hawkins : [she gives him a passionate kiss] Too bad. You'd have made a wonderful girl.
-
Giacomo : A thousand apologies for this intrusion, but may I beg shelter and warmth from this miserable storm?
Jean : Who are you?
Giacomo : A stranger in this land, young woman, but not for long. I am Giacomo of the continent, the king's new jester.
Jean : The court jester?
Hawkins : Giacomo?
Giacomo : Giacomo the incomparable! King of jesters and jester of kings!
Jean : Well, where are you from?
Giacomo : Most recently, the Italian court, but I've entertained in all the courts of Europe and speak a ready wit in their every tongue.
Jean : Hawkins, we are indeed honored that our humble hut should shelter one who tomorrow will be an intimate of the king.
Hawkins : With access to his chambers.
Jean : But how will they know you? Are you sure that no one at the castle has ever seen your face?
Giacomo : Not yet, but I assure you, ere another sun has set, the entire court of England will succumb to the charm, wit, and song of the Incomparable Giacomo, king of jesters...
Jean : [knocking him out] And jester to the king.
-
Captain of the Guard : Welcome, Giacomo. We have come to escort you to the castle. We...
[noticing Hawkins avoiding eye contact]
Captain of the Guard : Haven't we met before?
Hawkins : Uh, it's not very likely, my good man. You see, I'm, uh, on my way back from the Italian court.
Captain of the Guard : How speak you the king's English with no trace of accent?
Hawkins : My dear sir, Giacomo is the master of many, many tongues indeed. French.
[speaking French]
Hawkins : Italian.
[speaking Italian]
Hawkins : German.
[angrily shouting in German]
Hawkins : ...which means in any language, "Why tarry? Let us off to the castle.'
Captain of the Guard : Off to the castle?
Hawkins : Off to the castle.
[slipping as he tries to climb back aboard his cart]
Hawkins : To the castle.
-
Captain of the Guard : Ask the girl if she's seen a group in the forest.
Hawkins : [disguised as an old man] Huh? What's that? What?
Captain of the Guard : Ask the girl if she's seen a group in the forest.
Hawkins : What do you... what?
Captain of the Guard : ASK THE GIRL IF SHE'S SEEN A GROUP IN THE FOREST!
Hawkins : There's no need to holler, sir, for I hear very well, indeed.
Captain of the Guard : Well, ask her!
Hawkins : Ask her what?
Captain of the Guard : IF SHE'S SEEN A GROUP IN THE FOREST!
-
Princess Gwendolyn : So this is Giacomo, king of jesters and jester of kings.
Hawkins : Not today, milady. Today I am Giacomo, a lover of beauty. And a beauty of a lover.
Princess Gwendolyn : Can this be true, or is it merely a dream?
Hawkins : Dream? Is this a dream?
[kissing her hand]
Hawkins : Or this?
[kissing her fingers]
Hawkins : Or this? Or this? Or this? Or this?
-
Princess Gwendolyn : We are strangers, hardly met. What manner of man are you, Giacomo?
Hawkins : What manner of man is Giacomo? Ha ha! I shall tell you what manner of man is he. He lives for a sigh. He dies for a kiss. He lusts for a laugh. Ha! He never walks when he can leap.
[jumping and bouncing on her bed, then jumping off]
Hawkins : He never flees when he can fight. He swoons at the beauty of a rose, and I offer myself to you, all of me; my heart, my lips, my legs, my calves. Do what you will. My love endures.
[kissing up her arm and over her head]
Hawkins : Beat me. Kick me.
[kissing down her other arm]
Hawkins : I am yours.
Princess Gwendolyn : Oh, Giacomo, you are so ardent.
Hawkins : With your permission, milady, I'd like to go around again.
-
Captain of the Guard : By order of his sovereign majesty, the jester Giacomo shall enter upon a series of tests of manhood, skill, and courage, requisite to his becoming a knight of the realm.
Hawkins : M-Me, a knight? But why?
Captain of the Guard : To make you eligible for the hand of the Princess Gwendolyn.
Hawkins : M-Marry the princess? Wh-when?
Captain of the Guard : Upon your passing each and every test.
Hawkins : Oh. Well, that's different. It takes four or five years to become a knight, doesn't it?
Captain of the Guard : We shall see. Let the tests begin.
Hawkins : [as he's led away] W-Wait, what's the hurry?
-
King Roderick I : The key to the secret passage.
Princess Gwendolyn : Father, let me have it.
King Roderick I : So you'd run away, would you? Well, you trick me not. This key will never leave my person. You will marry Griswold upon the morrow, and I promise you, daughter or not, princess or not, one move, one false move, and your neck will snap like a twig.
Hawkins : [as the King snaps, he steps out from his hiding place] Where is he? Giacomo hides not behind drapes!
-
King Roderick I : Members of the court, know you that the crown would make a most felicitous announcement concerning the defense and security of our great kingdom. I would have you know that today was an alliance consummated between the crown and our honored and valiant baron, Sir Griswold of McElwaine.
[he kicks Hawkins]
Hubert Hawkins : [singing] Uh, the terms/The terms...
King Roderick I : [kicking him again] We've already had the terms.
Hubert Hawkins : Sorry.
King Roderick I : To cement this alliance, I have decreed a royal marriage between Sir Griswold of McElwaine and Gwendolyn the fair.
[he kicks Hawkins again]
Hubert Hawkins : [singing] Uh, uh... rejoice, rejoice/Although his brain is brief/For when the larder's empty/She'll have a ton of beef.
[getting kicked again]
Hubert Hawkins : [switching places] Would you like to try the other side, sire?
[getting kicked again]
Hubert Hawkins : Thank you, sire.
-
Ravenhurst : Sire, if I may suggest, it ill benefits the propriety of your high office to be seen with these unkempt wenches.
King Roderick I : What?
Ravenhurst : It is said the Incomparable Giacomo has a discerning eye for beauty. Uh, why not let him select a suitable companion for Your Majesty?
King Roderick I : Excellent, excellent. I trust the jester's reputation is based upon many years of... accomplishment?
Hawkins : Why do you think they call me incomparable, sire? Get it?
King Roderick I : Got it.
Hawkins : Good.
King Roderick I : Bring her to my chambers. Within the hour?
Hawkins : Within the hour.
Ravenhurst : Finish with the king and come to my chambers.
Hawkins : Within the hour.
-
King Roderick I : Sir Griswold of McElwaine, I bid thee welcome.
[he kicks Hawkins]
Hawkins : [singing and playing his lute] Uh, welcome, Sir Griswold/Your beard is full of hair/But do I say welcome or do I say
[bleating like a sheep]
Hawkins : Maaaa!
-
Griselda : Tails of lizards, ears of swine, chicken gizzards soaked in brine, now thine eyes and mine entwine, thy will is mine, thou art mine! Repeat after me: I am craven, and thou art my master.
Hawkins : [monotone] I am craven, and thou art my master.
Griselda : Stand there, fool.
Hawkins : Stand there, fool.
Griselda : Silence!
Hawkins : Silence!
Griselda : You are in my power and will obey my every command.
Hawkins : Every command.
Griselda : And remember, any time I choose, a mere snap of the fingers can bring you out of the spell like this.
Hawkins : [snapping her fingers, the spell is broken] Ooh!
Griselda : [snapping again] And back like that. Do you understand, fool?
Hawkins : Yes, master. You can snap me in and snap me out.
-
Ravenhurst : Your arrival, Giacomo, shows imagination and brilliance.
Hawkins : Did you expect less?
Ravenhurst : Are you now prepared to fulfill the bargain arranged by my agent, Sir Bertram of Allenberg?
Hawkins : Quite.
Ravenhurst : Very well, then. There are two plans.
Hawkins : Two plans.
Ravenhurst : Plan one: the untimely demise of milords Brockhurst, Finsdale, and Pertwee.
Hawkins : Uh-huh.
Ravenhurst : These three must die tonight.
Hawkins : Three for tonight. Proceed.
Ravenhurst : The method I leave to you, but die they must.
Hawkins : Ha. They shall drop like flies.
Ravenhurst : [snapping twice] Precisely. Like flies.
Sir Locksley : Do you have some sort of twitch?
Hawkins : Twitch? I twitch only for action.
-
Ravenhurst : If plan one fails, you must execute plan two.
Hawkins : Plan two?
Ravenhurst : Take the princess from the castle before midnight, by whatever means you may devise.
Hawkins : For murder or abduction, I'm your man. You've paid the price, name your plan.
Ravenhurst : First, plan one. Are you sure you can dispose of milords Brockhurst, Finsdale, and Pertwee?
Hawkins : Are they married?
Ravenhurst : Yes.
Hawkins : Order flowers for the widows. Get it?
Ravenhurst : Got it.
Hawkins : Good.
-
Hubert Hawkins : All right, Sir Griswold, prepare to die.
Sir Griswold : Go ahead, sir knight, slay me. You won in fair combat. Strike! Let rivers of blood wash away the stain of my disgrace. Go on! Spew the field with my dishonored guts.
Hubert Hawkins : No. No, I cannot slay a man whose only crime is that he loved not too wisely, but too well. I grant your life. Take your men and go!
