"...the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true!"

...but they broke the chalice from the palace... and replaced it with a flagon... with the image of a dragon.

...so the pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon, the vessel with the pestle had the brew that was true.

Get it? Got it. Good!

There are two things Sue and I love... bargains and classic films. Thankfully, the two usually go hand in hand.

In fact, in the "El Cheapo" bin at a local video store, we found the DVD for Danny Kaye's The Court Jester!

One of our "things" is trying to introduce our little one to movies that, although not "modern", meant a great deal to us as children... and this was one of them.

Of course, everyone has the movies that are "staples"... like The Wizard of Oz and It's a Wonderful Life... and most parents own a plethora of Disney DVDs... but we love the "harder to find" ones... ones that many folks wouldn't own because... well, mostly because they're often on TV for free...

We, on the other hand, have gone out of our way to own them.

Things like Don Knotts' classic like The Reluctant Astronaut and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken... (yeah, I know... that last one's a natural for us...)

(Go on, click the image above...)

The one's I'm now gunning for are...

• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

• Wonder Man

• Hans Christian Andersen

• The Incredible Mr. Limpit

• (Only One Disney Classic in this List) Bedknobs and Broomsticks

• Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (not the new one... we have that... yuch...)

Oh, we already have The Inspector General and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (of course)... and several Laurel and Hardy movies (although that collection's growing all the time too... and I'll be bringing in some of my favourite Marx Brother's films shortly too.

You gotta love today... thanks to a plethora of DVDs, you can grab classic movies for usually around $10 to $15... and even cheaper if you hunt!

For example, we picked up the original animated Charlotte's Web, Mary Poppins, and for when she's a bit older... okay, for Sue and myself BOTH Dr. Phibes movies on VHS (the local video stores are getting rid of them in favour of DVDs) for a GRAND TOTAL of $2.00 each!

Anyone who "threw out" or "got rid of" their VCR (tape player/recorder) in the mad switch to DVDs... FOOLS! The bargoons to be had on old tapes is AMAZING!!!

Meanwhile, back at The Court Jester...

In watching these classics, I usually confine myself to my desk (within viewing range of the TV) and look up tasty tidbits of trivia about the films in question.

Using The Court Jester as a "for instance"...

Did you know that The Court Jester was a flop at the box office? It made only $2.2 million... but cost $4 million to make? However it did make up for the shortfall when they sold the rights to broadcast it on television.

Did you know that Danny Kaye won a Golden Globe award for his part in the movie?

Did you know that, according to Kaye's daughter Dena, when people spotted Danny in public, they would often approach him and recite the "Pellet with the poison" speech that I used as my title of this post?

Did you know that Angela Lansbury turned thirty-one years old during the making of the film? (Think about THAT!)

Did you know Basil Rathbone, the villain in the film and most synonymous with playing Sherlock Holmes, was a world class fencer and Danny only had about three weeks worth of lessons... but because of his ability to mime, Kaye literally out-fenced Rathbone who found that Kaye's quick reflexes were a little dangerous to him... so in the "snap-fencing" scene, you only see Rathbone from the back during the fights... and only from the front when he's getting ready to "en guard". This is because the fight choreographer had to take his place...
Remember: Basil was in his sixties when the movie was filmed!

Did you know that because he had "chicken legs", the producers made Danny wear "leg falsies" to look more buff in his tights.

(Believe it or not, the photo above is Danny Kaye in make-up for one part of The Court Jester!)

Of course, I could TOUCH on the fact that, although Kaye was married to Sylvia Fine until he died, he MAY (most likely) had one long-term affair... with (of all people) Laurence Olivier when he was married to Vivien Leigh... granted, these are rumours and Larry, as he preferred to be called, said of them they were "unforgivable garbage".

Granted, there is some truth the Sylvia Fine may have helped "progress" the demise of a young Barbara Bates, the actress playing opposite Danny in The Inspector General... According to the book, Hollywood Babylon, Bates' best work in the film (which some thought could catapult her career) was edited out with the "suggestion" of Mrs. Fine who truly thought she upstaged Danny! Bates had a "decent" career, but not a great one, and in 1968 killed herself via carbon monoxide poisoning in her mother's garage.

How salacious...

To be honest, blaming Mrs. Fine for Bates' death would be like blaming the Wright Brothers for 9/11 as Ms. Bates had a lot of personal demons...

...but hey, it makes for a good yarn, no?

So anyway, my point... SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CLASSIC (and not-so-classic) MOVIES! You'll save money, have GREAT entertainment, loads of memories that you can share... and find out nifty tidbits in the process!

I mean, don't even get me started about what happened to Dick Van Dyke's career when he said that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang would "out Disney Disney"!

...and did you know that Lionel Jeffries, the fellow who played Grandpa in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is six months YOUNGER than Van Dyke and is still very much with us? (God bless him!)

Oh the posh posh traveling life, the traveling life for me!
First cabin and captain's table regal company!
Whenever I'm bored I travel abroad but ever so properly...
Port out, starboard home, posh with a capital P-O-S-H, posh!

If you haven't yet, TURN UP that PC Speaker and click "Play" on the "Flash Player" on the sidebar here... near the top...

What a WONDERFUL song and singer! (If the poor man knew how often as a kid I brutalised the lyrics and his "style" in attempts to belt out the tune, I'm sure he'd be horrified!)

...and what great movies and great memories and how great it is to share them... and find they MORE than stand the test of time!

Just so everyone knows, this was probably my favourite post I've written EVER on this blog! I had fun writing it!

The standard last note on the old blog... PLEASE SUPPORT THE DREAM!

This blog is here to help promote a dream that an entire family shares... that dream is to rescue an old London Double-Decker bus.

Please, if you have a few minutes, take some time to find out more about this bus and the kooky dream by clicking here.

This bus is VERY special to myself and the whole family, and any help any person can lend us would be most gratefully accepted.

If you or someone you know might be interested, there's our tiny banner site, HelpCoverTheBus.Com and a PayPal donation button (see the upper-right hand side of the blog) and, of course, a Cafe Press shop for T-Shirts and shtuff!
(...and who doesn't need some shtuff!)

Please help us make this dream a reality and save a piece of history!

We thank you for your support!

Please Note: We are also hoping for help from a public relations/marketing standpoint... If you might be able to assist OR know someone who might be willing to, please click here and read this entry...