Review: The Court Jester

The upcoming termination of Netflix's DVD by mail program is a great loss. One of the best things about it, in my opinion, has been the ability to rent old movies that simply aren't worth maintaining on a streaming service.

The Court Jester is one of those movies. It came out in 1956, and has arguably one of the most entertaining sword fight scenes of any movie I've seen. With no swearing and no sex, it's a fine movie to watch with the whole family, although the lack of English subtitles was unfortunate.

The movie is hilarious, but the plot is actually quite complex. On one level, there's a usurper on the throne trying to find and kill the rightful heir, who's an infant. On another level, there's a plot to usurp the usurper. And then, on top of that, there's also a plot (by the usurper's daughter) to keep out of a political marriage.

The action, dialogue, and tension involved in the multiple deceptions make for a movie that's as easily watchable the first time as it is *re*-watchable .