Knock On Wood

1954 "The No. 1 Song-and-Dance Clown at his best!"
6.7| 1h43m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 06 April 1954 Released
Producted By: Paramount
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has failed with another love affair. The reason: when the relationship reaches the point when it is time to discuss marriage, his two dolls become mean and jealous. Morgan's dollmaker Papinek is a member of a spy ring who has stolen the secret plans for the top-secret Lafayette airplane. Since Morgan is leaving for Zurich the same night, he decides to hide the secret plan in the heads of the dolls.

Genre

Action, Comedy

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Director

Melvin Frank, Norman Panama

Production Companies

Paramount

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Knock On Wood Audience Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
SimonJack Danny Kaye made only 17 big screen movies and six TV movies in his 50-year career. He was surely in demand to do more. But like other many-talented physical performers (i.e., Fred Astaire), Kaye took time to perfect his often complicated routines. And, his films were mostly in his first 30 years. He had his own highly popular TV series that ran over five years, 1963-1967, and he made guest appearances on other shows. Kaye was one of the few multi-talented performers on stage and the silver screen; and I think he was one of the best. He was primarily known as a comedian. But he was an excellent dancer and singer as well. He was a first-rate mimic. He had a versatile voice and could imitate various ethnic voices. And, he was the singular master of tongue-twisters. His rapid-fire, tongue-twister monologues and songs were marvelous to see and hear. About the middle of his career, Kaye made "Knock on Wood." He plays a ventriloquist, Jerry Morgan, who unwittingly gets involved in an espionage caper between Paris and London. Kaye sings, dances, tongue-twists, and ruses his way through many a scrape in this delightful comedy. He has his usual slapstick situations, and is riotous in a ballet sequence. When three bodies turn up in his hotel rooms, he becomes known in London as the "red-headed ripper." Two of the most hilarious escapades are his posing as an English gentleman and then as an Irishman at a Sons of Hibernia convention. His tongue-twister song in brogue is over the top funny. Danny Kaye played a couple of serious roles in films, but mostly was an entertainer who relished making people laugh. Kaye never won an Oscar but was given an honorary Academy Award for his exceptional talents and service to filmdom and America. He was just 44 when he received that award in 1955. He did win two Golden Globes – for "On the Riviera" in 1952 and "Me and the Colonel" in 1958. And, he won an Emmy for his TV comedy series. In 1982, he received another award from the Hollywood academy – the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award. For many years, Kaye was ambassador at large for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the organization asked him to accept the 1955 Nobel Peace Prize it was awarded. Kaye is probably most known today for his co-starring role with Bing Crosby in "White Christmas." In 1955, he was near the end of his roles with much physical activity, and he focused more on music. He played Red Nichols in that music man's 1959 biopic, "The Five Pennies." Kaye toured with Bob Hope shows for American service men overseas. Hope said Kaye was his favorite comedian.Whatever Danny Kaye was in was worth watching. Kaye said that he was born to entertain people. All of his comedy films are among the best of the genre. The inimitable Danny Kaye shines in this wonderful comedy, as he does in all the others. It's pure joyful and fun entertainment for the whole family.
bartonside This film is very special to me because when I left home to live in London in 1958, I saw this on my first evening in the city and, as I walked to the cinema, I realised I had not had to ask anyone if I could go or tell anyone where I was going! It was a moment of pure joy - I was free! Other reviewers have carped at the automatic sports car scene but I love this for two reasons: it is very well-constructed, very brief and only a great clown could have carried off. Secondly, Kaye uses his ability as a mimic to produce an impeccable English accent, something which very few Americans can manage (e.g. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins).
bradjanet There is plenty of fun to be had in this uneven Danny Kaye entry, the sequence where he gives an excruciatingly complicated explanation of the espionage activities of a group of mittel-European spies with very similar names is a hoot, but it is the ballet parody of "The Polovstian Dances" that takes this film to the heights of film comedy. I believe this sequence to be one of the three funniest sequences in cinema, along with the first half hour of Chaplin's "Modern Times" and "Daphne's", (Jack Lemmon's), engagement sequence from "Some Like It Hot". The fact that it is unavailable on DVD is as inexplicable as it is regrettable.
skallisjr This isn't quite in the class of The Court Jester, but it's better by far than most comedies. Kaye's character is one of those who gets caught up in intrigue without fully understanding just what's going on.Spoilers follow: One really funny scene has Kaye's character hiding under a table, where those who are hunting him decide to sit down. One of them puts his hand on Kaye's knee, so he immediately puts his hand on that man's, so he'll think he's resting his hand on his own knee. Then the other (third) guy does the same thing with Kaye's other knee, and Kaye responds identically. Then, as the men talk, they start drumming their fingers on Kaye's knees, and he has to mimic their actions! Incredible work that probably involved a lot of retakes.There's one wonderful running gag where Kaye and his girlfriend are trying to escape pursuit by cutting through a car caught in a traffic jam. Later, they do the same, and happen to crawl through the same car, with the same couple in it. This leads to a great last line toward the close of the picture.You could do far worse than this one and still see a pretty good picture.