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| A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court - 1948 |
Coming up next we have 1948's "A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court", the film version of that classic Mark Twain tale that sees a man journey back in time to the court of King Arthur. Knights abound and ladies fair grace the eyes.
The film's cast includes Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, Cedric Hardwicke, William Bendix, Murvyn Vye, Virginia Field, Henry Wilcoxon, and Ann Carter.
In 1912, Connecticut native Hank Martin is taking a tour of Pendragon Castle in England. He draws attention to himself during the tour, seeming to know more about the castle's history than the tour guides.
Of particular interest is how he knows so much about a lady named Alisande La Courteloise, a favorite niece of legendary King Arthur, and how he came to be in possession of a necklace that matches one she wears in a portrait.
He arouses the interest of Lord Pendragon himself, and Hank begins to tell the story of how he came by the necklace.
It all began back in Connecticut when he was knocked unconscious after falling from a horse in a heavy rainstorm.
When he awoke, he found he was in sixth century Arthurian England and being poked by Sir Sagramore. (Eventually, Hank becomes friends with "good old Saggy".)
He's brought before King Arthur, whom Hank finds is heavily under the influence of the sorcerer Merlin.
Hank, though, only has eyes for one person in the room, the King's favorite niece, the lovely and fair Alisande La Courteloise.
Hank proceeds to dazzle the court with modern inventions and thinking. Even Merlin is stumped.
Arthur is sufficiently impressed enough to grant him a blacksmith's shop as well as a title, "Sir Boss".
At a party in honor of Hank, Merlin contrives with the King's other niece, Morgan Le Fay, to somehow get rid of Hank.
But Hank continues his wooing of Alisande. He even teaches her the meaning of a wink. "Hast thou an affliction in thine eye?" she asks. "I'm afraid it's in my heart," he replies.
He teaches the court a new form of dancing, and he even gets Alisande alone to woo her with a song. He gives her a nickname, "Sandy," which she says, "It hath a fine and winsome grace. Sandy.
Even so, already it falleth trippingly from the
tongue."
However, Hank has to joust against Sir Lancelot, who is Alisande's betrothed. She watches the proceedings, completely embarrassed that the two men are battling for her.
While all this is going on, Hank takes the time to tell King Arthur that his subjects are very unhappy. And he even makes a suggestion.
Hank and the King, along with Sir Sagramore, travel incognito to ascertain how the people really live. Along the way, they sing "Busy Doing Nothing".
They are caught, however, by Merlin's forces and sentenced to death. Hank (thanks to an almanac he brought with him from the future) correctly predicts a solar eclipse, which is enough to set him and the rest of the prisoners free.
Hank has to do battle with Merlin, but this proves to be the catalyst the brings him back to the future, though not before Alisande can give him her necklace to remember her by.
Back in the present, Lord Pendragon thanks Hank for his story, and then he mentions that the view from the east parapet is particularly fine at that time of day. His niece is usually there at this time. Hank thanks him and goes to look for the east parapet.
There, he meets a young woman who looks very familiar. "Sandy!" he says. She asks him how he knows her name.
Lord Pendragon watches the proceedings from his window unobserved.
And Sandy gives a smiling Hank a knowing wink as they settle onto a bench and get cozy.
Cast rundown:
Bing Crosby..........................Hank Martin
Rhonda Fleming....................Alisande La Courteloise/Sandy Pendragon
Cedric Hardwicke...................King Arthur/Lord Pendragon
William Bendix......................Sir Sagramore
Murvyn Vye...........................Merlin
Virginia Field.........................Morgan Le Fay
Henry Wilcoxon......................Sir Lancelot
Ann Carter.............................Peasant Girl
And that's it for A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court. Bing Crosby insisted that he share billing with Rhonda Fleming. He didn't want to be solely responsible for the film if it flopped. As it happens, this movie was nominated in 2008 by the American Film Institute for its "Top 10 Fantasy Films" list.
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