This article possibly contains original research. (October 2009) |
Knock on Wood is a 1954 American comedy thriller film starring Danny Kaye and Mai Zetterling. Other actors in the film include Torin Thatcher, David Burns, and Leon Askin. The film was written and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, with songs by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine. Location shooting in England took place around London as well as Maidenhead and Marlow.
| Knock on Wood | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Melvin Frank Norman Panama |
| Written by | Melvin Frank Norman Panama |
| Produced by | Melvin Frank Norman Panama |
| Starring | Danny Kaye Mai Zetterling Torin Thatcher David Burns Leon Askin |
| Cinematography | Daniel L. Fapp |
| Edited by | Alma Macrorie |
| Music by | Sylvia Fine Victor Young |
Production company | Dena Productions |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3.5 million (US)[1] |
Plot
editJerry Morgan (Kaye) is a ventriloquist who is having trouble with love: just when his relationship with a woman gets around to marriage, his dummy turns jealous and spoils everything. Jerry's manager Marty threatens to quit unless Jerry sees a psychiatrist, Ilse Nordstrom (Zetterling), who tries to discover the source of his problem. The two of them eventually fall in love.
At the same time, Jerry becomes unwittingly intertwined with spies and has to run from the police. In his escape, he finds himself impersonating a British car salesman, trying to demonstrate a new convertible with loads of bells and whistles. Later on, he finds himself on stage in the middle of the performance of an exotic ballet.
Cast
edit- Danny Kaye as Jerry Morgan/Jerry's father
- Mai Zetterling as Doctor Ilse Nordstrom
- Torin Thatcher as Godfrey Langston, the film's villain
- David Burns as Marty Brown, Jerry's manager
- Leon Askin as Lazlo Gromek, a spy
- Abner Biberman as Maurice Papinek, a spy
- Otto Waldis as Brodnik, a spy
- Gavin Gordon as Car Salesman
- Steven Geray as Doctor Krüger
- Diana Adams as Princess Maya
- Patricia Denise as Jerry's Mother
- Virginia Huston as Audrey Greene
- Paul England as Chief Inspector Wilton
- Johnstone White as Langstons Secretary
- Henry Brandon as Man with a Trenchcoat
- Lewis Martin as Inspector Crawford
Production notes
editThe film features dialogue with linguistic play (particularly the names of the dummies "Clarence" and "Terrence" and the Slavic names of the spies) which would also be a feature of Kaye's later film The Court Jester (likewise written and directed by Frank and Panama).
The title song "Knock on Wood" should not be confused with "Everybody Thinks I'm Crazy" from the 1941 cartoon entitled Woody Woodpecker, starring the character of the same name; or the song "Knock on Wood" from the 1942 film, Casablanca (with music by M.K. Jerome and lyrics by Jack Scholl). Kaye performed renditions of both the title song from Knock on Wood and "The Woody Woodpecker Song," which are found on the album The Best of Danny Kaye [Spectrum, 2000].
Home media
editKnock on Wood was issued as a region 2 DVD in March 2009.
References
edit- ^ 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1954', Variety Weekly, January 5, 1955
Bibliography
edit- Gehring, Wes D. Movie Comedians of the 1950s: Defining a New Era of Big Screen Comedy. McFarland, 2016.