Knock on Wood (1954)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Melvin Frank
Norman Panama

Writers:

Norman Panama (writer) and
Melvin Frank (writer)

Release Date:

2 June 1954 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The No. 1 Song-and-Dance Clown at his best!

Plot:

Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has failed with another love affair. The reason: when the relationship reaches...

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Murder | Love | Ventriloquist | Automobile

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Danny Kaye	...	Jerry Morgan / Papa Morgan
Mai Zetterling	...	Dr. Ilse Nordstrom
Torin Thatcher	...	Godfrey Langstrom
David Burns	...	Marty Brown
Leon Askin	...	Laslo Gromeck
Abner Biberman	...	Maurice Papinek
Gavin Gordon	...	Car Salesman
Otto Waldis	...	Brodnik
Steven Geray	...	Doctor Kreuger
Diana Adams	...	Princess Maya
Patricia Denise	...	Mama Morgan
Virginia Huston	...	Audrey Greene
Paul England	...	Chief Inspector Wilton
Johnstone White	...	Langston's Secretary
Henry Brandon	...	Second Trenchcoat Man

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (PCA #16693, General Audience)

Company:

Dena Productions

Goofs:

Errors in geography: Supposedly set in England, all of the cars on the streets of London are left-hand drive.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)

Amusing vehicle for Kaye's antics as ventriloquist with psychiatric problems

It seems Hollywood was quite impressed with this Screenplay, nominating it for an Oscar as well as a Screen Writers Guild Award. It is certainly more complex than most comedy vehicles but still it's not that outstanding that its script should be considered award-worthy. Overlooked by the Academy was the lavish and varied Art Direction that did deserve an Oscar nom.

Kaye plays a ventriloquist who runs away from marriage through his alter ego dummy due to a deep-seated childhood trauma based on his parents' difficult marriage. He becomes romantically involved with a female psychiatrist. Paralleling this is a spy plot where important documents are hidden in the wooden heads of his two dummies and two opposing espionage agents are vying to get their hands on them, unbeknownst to Kaye.

This makes for amusing and madcap moments, although one really does have to be a Kaye fan to enjoy this material. Once again his wife, Sylvia Fine, delivers a few totally forgettable songs. Nepotism at work.

The funniest sequence is when Kaye impersonates a British car salesman and tries to demonstrate a new convertible that has so many buttons and so many options all hell breaks loose.

Worth a look.