GamerTab
That was an excellent one.
Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
Salubfoto
It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.
vincentlynch-moonoi
There are quite a few Bing Crosby films I admire, quite a few of his songs that I enjoy. But this is among my least favorite Crosby films and the songs are hopelessly outdated (even though it's this era of music I most enjoy). In fact, that's the problem with the film overall -- for some reason it seems hopelessly outdated. And I'm not sure why. But man, is it boring.That's not to say it doesn't have its strong points. In 1949, the year this film was produced (as was I), Bing Crosby was # 2 at the box office, beat out only by Bob Hope, but beating out such stalwarts as John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Cary Grant, and Humphrey Bogart! The Technicolor here is beautiful! And enhances the beauty of the leading lady -- Rhonda Fleming. In addition to Crosby and Fleming, Sir Cedric Hardwicke has the role of King Arthur, which is a bore early on, but gets more interesting when "the boys" hit the road. William Bendix is funny as Sir Sagramore, but it gets kinda old kinda fast. The only other thing, cast-wise, to watch for, is Henry Wilcoxon as Sir Lancelot; guess he wasn't always in Biblical epics! Aside from the vagabonds hitting the road, the only other scene I enjoyed was the climax scene; those almanacs...how clever they were.If Bing is your thing, the musicals like "White Christmas", "Holiday Inn", and "High Society" are much better, the road pictures with Bob Hope are much funnier, and "Man On Fire" (if you can find it) and "The Country Girl" are great for dramas.But, this film is still worth a watch...once...to see beautiful Technicolor and rick sets.
Neil Doyle
Giving credit where it's due, only the technicolor, costumes and sets deserve any honorable mention.This is undoubtedly the lowest point in BING CROSBY's long career at Paramount. The script is about as clumsy as you could possibly imagine and neither the casual Bing nor William Bendix nor Sir Cedric Hardwicke can do a thing about repairing it. Bendix looks extremely foolish in a page boy wig. And poor Rhonda Fleming has a stock costume heroine role requiring her to look adoringly at Bing and little else except for warbling a couple of uninspired ballads in a voice probably dubbed for the occasion.Just plain awful! Mark Twain's wit is not evident in any of the screenplay. Only die-hard Crosby fans can possibly appreciate this mess of a film given uninspired direction. Even the extras look as though they don't know what they're supposed to be doing.Summing up: Dull as dishwater. Not recommended, even for children.
lzf0
Well, all of the Bingisms are there. The boo-boo-boo, calling adversaries "Buster", the easy going attitude which hides the cowardly con artist inside. But somehow Crosby is restrained. Sure, he looks at the camera and has flip comments to make. But it all should have been broader. Even William Bendix is restrained! I suppose director Garnett was looking to down play the slapstick of it all. This film has little to do with the biting satire of Mark Twain and has little to do with the famous Rodgers and Hart stage musical. The Van Heusen-Burke musical numbers ("If You Stub Your Toe on the Moon", "When is Sometime" and "Once and for Always") are above average songs, but they can't compare with "Thou Swell", "My Heart Stood Still", "To Keep My Love Alive", and "I Feel at Home with You". If you listen to Crosby's 1957 recording of "Thou Swell" on his superior album "Bing Sings Whilest Bregman Swings", you can tell that the song fits him like a glove. Too bad he doesn't do it in the movie. As for the Rodgers and Hart version, there exists somewhere a kinoscope of a 1955 TV production starring Eddie "Green Acres" Albert. A CD has been released of the soundtrack. I would love to see this version of "A Connecticut Yankee". Until it is made available, I guess I will have to settle for boo-boo-boo, Buster!
soames
Mark Twain's amazing work of dark satire is transformed into . . . this??? Read the book. Please. I'm sick of Hollywood taking great books - this, Grapes of Wrath, The Egg and I, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, etc - and transforming them into watered-down versions of the novels, which take hold of the public imagination and supplant the originals for apparently all eternity. When will this end???
