A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A blow to the head sends an auto mechanic back to the days of Camelot.
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Comedy
Fantasy
Historical
Release Date
Apr 22, 1949
Premiere Information
New York opening: 7 Apr 1949
Production Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (New York, 1889).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 47m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9,712ft
Synopsis
In England in 1912, Hank Martin, an American blacksmith, visits the Pendragon castle and tells Lord Pendragon, who is laid up with a head cold, the story of how he fell in love with Alisande La Carteloise, whose portrait hangs on the castle wall. Years earlier, in Connecticut, Hank is knocked out in a storm and wakes in the year 528 A.D. He is immediately seized by a dim-witted knight named Sagramore and brought before the aging King Arthur of Camelot, who has a head cold. Sagramore accuses Hank of possessing demonic powers, and Merlin, the king's wicked sorcerer, orders him killed, although Alisande, the king's beautiful niece, pleads with her uncle to spare the handsome stranger's life. Hank escapes being burned at the stake by focusing the crystal from his pocket watch on the sun, thus starting a fire that ignites Merlin's robe. Believing that Hank has supernatural powers, the king grants him the terms of their surrender: That Sagramore be made Hank's squire; that Hank be given a humble blacksmith's shop; and that the king host a ball in his honor. Hank is dubbed "Sir Boss," and at the ball, he and Alisande fall in love, as he teaches her to wink. She is betrothed to Sir Lancelot, however, who is a brave warrior and knight of the round table. Lancelot returns to Camelot and challenges Hank to a duel; the winner will marry Alisande. Hank uses his little horse Tex and a lasso to defeat Lancelot, but Alisande is furious at him for humiliating Lancelot and refuses to marry him. At his blacksmith's shop, Hank builds a pistol and is visited by a young peasant girl who says her father is dying of the plague. By the time Hank arrives, the man is dead. The mother then explains that her two sons have been imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. Hank convinces the king to take a tour of his country disguised as a simple yeoman so that he may see the true suffering of his people. While he is away, Merlin, Morgan Le Fay, the king's wicked niece, and the evil Sir Logris plot to usurp the throne. Sagramore, Hank and the king are kidnapped and sold into slavery to Merlin. Alisande arrives to save them, but is herself jailed. After Sagramore kills a guard, Alisande, Hank and the king are sentenced to death for Sagramore's crime. Alisande gives her amulet to Hank and pledges her eternal love. Just before they are to die by the chopping block, Hank predicts a solar eclipse after consulting his copy of The Farmer's Almanac , and when the sky goes black, they escape. Hank races to Merlin's tower to save Alisande and shoots a guard. Back in the present, Lord Pendragon tells Hank to go down to the castle balcony. There he finds Alisande, Lord Pendragon's niece, who winks at him.
Crew
Videos
Film Details
Genre
Musical
Comedy
Fantasy
Historical
Release Date
Apr 22, 1949
Premiere Information
New York opening: 7 Apr 1949
Production Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Distribution Company
Paramount Pictures, Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (New York, 1889).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 47m
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
9,712ft
Articles
By 1949, after nearly two decades, Bing Crosby was still Paramount's premier attraction. Popular with movie going audiences since signing with the studio in 1932, the likeable crooner proved himself as a thespian extraordinaire with 1944's mammoth success Going My Way, winning an Oscar for Best Actor. Blue Skies (1946) - an Irving Berlin follow-up to the smash Holiday Inn (1942) - re-teamed the singer with former co-star Fred Astaire, and literally went through the roof, becoming one of Paramount's all-time box office champs.
The previous year had seen the release of Road to Utopia - the latest in the Crosby/Bob Hope/Dorothy Lamour laugh fests - and proceeded to live up to its title becoming 1945's top grossing picture. Added to his soaring record sales and highly rated Philco radio series, Bing ruled the post-war years, pre-eminently at Paramount where his current contract granted him director/cast/writer approval. His busy schedule permitting, the shrewd star made sure to throw in an occasional Technicolor special, and Crosby's choice of directors for these prime projects seemed (at least on the surface) a bit odd. Blue Skies had been helmed by Stuart Heisler, a former editor-turned-director, whose forte for action pictures and noirish dramas began with 1942's The Glass Key. The Emperor Waltz (1948) was a Billy Wilder extravaganza, who, while renowned as the co-writer of such confections as Ninotchka (1939) and Ball of Fire (1941), had, during this period, only directed one comedy (The Major and the Minor, 1942); his last two movies had been Double Indemnity (1944) and The Lost Weekend (1945). Now with the Technicolor cameras set to roll on a tailor-made remake of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (previously filmed in 1921 and again ten years later as an acclaimed Will Rogers talkie), Crosby turned once again to filmdom's darkest corners - selecting Tay Garnett, best known for his classic adaptation of James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).
Like Billy Wilder, Garnett, while synonymous with tough, gritty pictures (Bataan, 1943), had a formidable background in comedy, having entered the industry in 1920 as a gag writer for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach. The wily Bing knew the post WWII viewers needed their laughs tempered with sarcasm and irony, and these "unlikely" directors more than fit the bill.
Paramount, who would pull out all the proverbial stops for the upcoming production, began with the cast: certainly the role of the easy-going Hank, a New England mechanic mysteriously transported back to the days of Camelot, fit Crosby like a glove, and with such stellar support as William Bendix, Murvyn Vye, Henry Wilcoxon and Alan Napier, the right cogs indeed seemed to be in place. Bing's female co-star would be the gorgeous flame-haired Rhonda Fleming, still new to the motion picture scene but already on her way to challenging Maureen O'Hara for the title of Queen of Technicolor. Her appearance in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court would not let her growing fans down: sumptuously adorned in Edith Head creations, she was, in a word, ravishing. Finally, as an aging, runny-nosed King Arthur, Cedric Hardwicke walked away with most of the best reviews, giving a thoroughly delightful comic performance.
The funny anachronistic script was penned by Edmund Beloin, an A-list Forties scribe, who had provided Paramount with a slew of hilarious cinematic bulls eyes including Road to Rio, Bob Hope's sidesplitting My Favorite Brunette (both 1947), as well as two Jack Benny classics, Buck Benny Rides Again and Love Thy Neighbor (both 1940). As for the music score for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, it was composed by Victor Young and featured some classy Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen compositions. However, a major contribution to the picture's enormous favor with critics and audiences alike was the spectacular Technicolor camerawork, courtesy of the brilliant Ray Rennahan, who by 1949 was the industry-acknowledged master of the process having worked on two-strip test films in the early 1920s. Rennahan's stunning work for the Technicolor company resulted in such landmark productions as Whoopee! (1930), Doctor X (1932), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), Kid Millions (1934 - the first live action three-strip sequence), Becky Sharp (1935 - the first full-length three-strip feature), and Wings of the Morning (1937 - the first British Technicolor feature). Not surprisingly, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was one of 1949's movie highlights, putting yet another feather in Paramount's Crosby cap, in addition to remaining the best filmed version to date of Twain's beloved story.
Producer: Robert M. Fellows
Director: Tay Garnett
Screenplay: Edmund Beloin, based on the novel by Mark Twain
Art Direction: Roland Anderson, Hans Dreier
Cinematography: Ray Rennahan
Costume Design: Mary Kay Dodson, Edith Head, Gile Steele
Film Editing: Archie Marshek
Original Music: Victor Young, Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen
Cast: Bing Crosby (Hank Martin), Rhonda Fleming (Alisande La Carteloise), Cedric Hardwicke (King Arthur), William Bendix (Sir Sagramore), Murvyn Vye (Merlin), Henry Wilcoxon (Sir Lancelot), Virginia Field (Morgan Le Fay), Joseph Vitale (Sir Logris).
C-107m.
by Mel Neuhaus
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949)
By 1949, after nearly two decades, Bing Crosby was still Paramount's premier attraction. Popular with movie going audiences since signing with the studio in 1932, the likeable crooner proved himself as a thespian extraordinaire with 1944's mammoth success Going My Way, winning an Oscar for Best Actor. Blue Skies (1946) - an Irving Berlin follow-up to the smash Holiday Inn (1942) - re-teamed the singer with former co-star Fred Astaire, and literally went through the roof, becoming one of Paramount's all-time box office champs. The previous year had seen the release of Road to Utopia - the latest in the Crosby/Bob Hope/Dorothy Lamour laugh fests - and proceeded to live up to its title becoming 1945's top grossing picture. Added to his soaring record sales and highly rated Philco radio series, Bing ruled the post-war years, pre-eminently at Paramount where his current contract granted him director/cast/writer approval. His busy schedule permitting, the shrewd star made sure to throw in an occasional Technicolor special, and Crosby's choice of directors for these prime projects seemed (at least on the surface) a bit odd. Blue Skies had been helmed by Stuart Heisler, a former editor-turned-director, whose forte for action pictures and noirish dramas began with 1942's The Glass Key. The Emperor Waltz (1948) was a Billy Wilder extravaganza, who, while renowned as the co-writer of such confections as Ninotchka (1939) and Ball of Fire (1941), had, during this period, only directed one comedy (The Major and the Minor, 1942); his last two movies had been Double Indemnity (1944) and The Lost Weekend (1945). Now with the Technicolor cameras set to roll on a tailor-made remake of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (previously filmed in 1921 and again ten years later as an acclaimed Will Rogers talkie), Crosby turned once again to filmdom's darkest corners - selecting Tay Garnett, best known for his classic adaptation of James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Like Billy Wilder, Garnett, while synonymous with tough, gritty pictures (Bataan, 1943), had a formidable background in comedy, having entered the industry in 1920 as a gag writer for Mack Sennett and Hal Roach. The wily Bing knew the post WWII viewers needed their laughs tempered with sarcasm and irony, and these "unlikely" directors more than fit the bill. Paramount, who would pull out all the proverbial stops for the upcoming production, began with the cast: certainly the role of the easy-going Hank, a New England mechanic mysteriously transported back to the days of Camelot, fit Crosby like a glove, and with such stellar support as William Bendix, Murvyn Vye, Henry Wilcoxon and Alan Napier, the right cogs indeed seemed to be in place. Bing's female co-star would be the gorgeous flame-haired Rhonda Fleming, still new to the motion picture scene but already on her way to challenging Maureen O'Hara for the title of Queen of Technicolor. Her appearance in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court would not let her growing fans down: sumptuously adorned in Edith Head creations, she was, in a word, ravishing. Finally, as an aging, runny-nosed King Arthur, Cedric Hardwicke walked away with most of the best reviews, giving a thoroughly delightful comic performance. The funny anachronistic script was penned by Edmund Beloin, an A-list Forties scribe, who had provided Paramount with a slew of hilarious cinematic bulls eyes including Road to Rio, Bob Hope's sidesplitting My Favorite Brunette (both 1947), as well as two Jack Benny classics, Buck Benny Rides Again and Love Thy Neighbor (both 1940). As for the music score for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, it was composed by Victor Young and featured some classy Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen compositions. However, a major contribution to the picture's enormous favor with critics and audiences alike was the spectacular Technicolor camerawork, courtesy of the brilliant Ray Rennahan, who by 1949 was the industry-acknowledged master of the process having worked on two-strip test films in the early 1920s. Rennahan's stunning work for the Technicolor company resulted in such landmark productions as Whoopee! (1930), Doctor X (1932), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), Kid Millions (1934 - the first live action three-strip sequence), Becky Sharp (1935 - the first full-length three-strip feature), and Wings of the Morning (1937 - the first British Technicolor feature). Not surprisingly, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court was one of 1949's movie highlights, putting yet another feather in Paramount's Crosby cap, in addition to remaining the best filmed version to date of Twain's beloved story. Producer: Robert M. Fellows Director: Tay Garnett Screenplay: Edmund Beloin, based on the novel by Mark Twain Art Direction: Roland Anderson, Hans Dreier Cinematography: Ray Rennahan Costume Design: Mary Kay Dodson, Edith Head, Gile Steele Film Editing: Archie Marshek Original Music: Victor Young, Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen Cast: Bing Crosby (Hank Martin), Rhonda Fleming (Alisande La Carteloise), Cedric Hardwicke (King Arthur), William Bendix (Sir Sagramore), Murvyn Vye (Merlin), Henry Wilcoxon (Sir Lancelot), Virginia Field (Morgan Le Fay), Joseph Vitale (Sir Logris). C-107m. by Mel Neuhaus
Quotes
Pardon, my lord, but the monster seemeth a gentle soul.- Alisande La Carteloise
Gentle?- King Arthur
He has nice eyes.- Alisande La Carteloise
If there were aught I could say, aught I could do to save thee...- Sir Sagramore
Well, ain't there aught?- Hank Martin
Naught.- Sir Sagramore
Trivia
The footage of the solar eclipse was taken during an actual eclipse.
Notes
The film's title card reads: "Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." Twain's novel was adapted by Herbert Fields into a Broadway musical which opened on November 3, 1927, with music and lyrics by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Although Paramount purchased the rights to this musical and other treatments based on Twain's novel, the play was not used as a basis for this film. Writers Arthur Horman, Jack Moffitt, Graham Baker, N. Richard Nash and William Morrow worked on various treatments; however, information in the Paramount Collection at the AMPAS Library confirms that they did not contribute to the final film.
Patric Knowles was considered for the role of "Lancelot." According to a Par News item, the jousting tournament scene was shot at the Busch Gardens in Pasadena, CA, and Charles J. A. Miller, an authority on the Middle Ages, was hired to make sure the jousting was authentic. Par News also reported in mid-November 1947 that thirty acres of grassy woodland in Sherwood Forest, CA, was being painted with vegetable dye to change it from a fall yellow to a spring green for the king's walking tour scenes. Information in the Paramount Collection at the AMPAS Library reveals that castle exteriors were shot on location at Laguna Beach, CA.
Earlier film versions of Twain's story include the 1920 Fox-Mark Twain Co. film A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, directed by Emmett J. Flynn and starring Harry Myers (see the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1911-20; F1.0780); and the 1931 Fox film A Connecticut Yankee, directed by David Butler and starring Will Rogers (see the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.0801). In addition, Walt Disney Pictures released Unidentified Flying Oddball in 1979, based upon Twain's novel, directed by Russ Mayberry, A Kid in King Arthur's Court in 1995, directed by Michael Gottlieb and starring Thomas Ian Nicholas and Joss Ackland, and a 1998 made-for-television movie entitled A Knight in Camelot, starring Whoopi Goldberg.