Danny Kaye may be the least transferable comedian to the post 1940s. The Court Jester stands up against anything, anytime, period. The FIve Pennies is not a comedy and is fabulous. Basically everything else varies between overdone, momentarily humorous, and painful. This one combines the first and second. The boxing scenes are hilarious. The rest is embarrassing, with especially bad music because the picture does not know if it's a musical or a piece of crap. As for the rest of the cast, Eve Arden stands out as a stalwart, if only because the rest of them are trying so hard to convince us that this is funny. VIrginia Mayo does her best with horrible material. In her defense, "Old Fashioned Song" is not awful; indeed, it's quite pleasant.
Review of The Kid from Brooklyn
