Knock on Wood (1954) User Reviews

One inspired sequence.

[bradjanet · 8/10 · 14 May 2008]

There is plenty of fun to be had in this uneven Danny Kaye entry, the sequence where he gives an excruciatingly complicated explanation of the espionage activities of a group of mittel-European spies with very similar names is a hoot, but it is the ballet parody of "The Polovstian Dances" that takes this film to the heights of film comedy.

I believe this sequence to be one of the three funniest sequences in cinema, along with the first half hour of Chaplin's "Modern Times" and "Daphne's", (Jack Lemmon's), engagement sequence from "Some Like It Hot". The fact that it is unavailable on DVD is as inexplicable as it is regrettable.

Relatively Forgotten

[skallisjr · 8/10 · 24 April 2005]

This isn't quite in the class of The Court Jester, but it's better by far than most comedies. Kaye's character is one of those who gets caught up in intrigue without fully understanding just what's going on.

Spoilers follow: One really funny scene has Kaye's character hiding under a table, where those who are hunting him decide to sit down. One of them puts his hand on Kaye's knee, so he immediately puts his hand on that man's, so he'll think he's resting his hand on his own knee. Then the other (third) guy does the same thing with Kaye's other knee, and Kaye responds identically. Then, as the men talk, they start drumming their fingers on Kaye's knees, and he has to mimic their actions! Incredible work that probably involved a lot of retakes.

There's one wonderful running gag where Kaye and his girlfriend are trying to escape pursuit by cutting through a car caught in a traffic jam. Later, they do the same, and happen to crawl through the same car, with the same couple in it. This leads to a great last line toward the close of the picture.

You could do far worse than this one and still see a pretty good picture.

Two of Danny Kaye's funniest comedic scenes

[CCsito · 7/10 · 9 September 2009]

This movie probably doesn't match some of the better known Danny Kaye comedy movies, but it has what I consider to be two of the funniest scenes in any of his movies. The first one is when he is under a table with two men sitting and he has to match hand movements of them with his two hands. Very tricky and requires a lot of synchronization. I am sure that it took a few takes to get it right. The second is when Danny is trying to hide from both the police and spies and gets mixed up in a Russian ballet troupe performing on stage. He goes through a hilarious routine with the ballerina. These two scenes alone make watching this movie worthwhile.

Two Dummies or Three

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 21 February 2013]

The story of the ventriloquist's dummy who develops a personality all its own has been used any number of times. Two times when it was used seriously the ventriloquists were Cliff Robertson on the Twilight Zone and Michael Redgrave in Dead Of Night. But Danny Kaye managed to use it for laughs in Knock On Wood.

Every time Kaye gets close to a girl to start talking seriously of marriage, his second persona through the dummy takes over and cooks the deal for good. Kaye's agent David Burns suggests some consultation with a psychiatrist Steven Geray. And then Geray consults a consultant and the consultant psychiatrist turns out to be Mai Zetterling.

That's how romances start with comics, especially movie comics. But even Zetterling is ready to commit him when all kind of strange things happen. Two parts of the design of a secret weapon get hidden both of Kaye's dummies Clarence and Terrence. And two different sets of spies get a hold of the parts. One is held by Leon Askin and the second held by international man of mystery Torin Thatcher.

Things start happening around Kaye that he and no one else can explain so it's not unnatural for mental health professionals to think he's off his rocker. But so does law enforcement in several countries.

Knock On Wood is not as good as so many of Kaye's films, still his fans should like it. Best is the ballet sequences where in trying to elude the police who want him for a homicide and the spies who just want him dead, Danny fouls up a ballet that his former girlfriend is starring in. What a way to put a coda on a breakup.

Of course Danny was to reach the height of his career with his next two films White Christmas and The Court Jester. Knock On Wood is good, but just an interlude in Danny's career.

A very rare example of an adult comedy.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 5 July 2016]

I've come to the belief that Danny Kaye is an acquired taste, his early films quite funny yet some of the themes going way overboard to be over the heads of adolescents. His pairing with wife Sylvia Fine was a teaming of one of the great satirist writers and portrayer of those type of parts. In this very upscale comedy spoof of spy movies, he shows his meddle as he goes back into the territory of his early 1940's Broadway hit, "Lady in the Dark", as he goes into therapy to discover the reasons why he has allowed his romantic pairings to be destroyed by his ventriloquist dummy. Psycho analyst Mai Zetterling seems to have ulterior motives for taking his case, possibly being involved in the spy ring that hid secret documents in his dummy.

A serious atmosphere takes this way above the typical Bob Hope spy vehicle. There's no time for nonsense, and other than the occasional patter song, this is more plot oriented than normal, making it frequently suspenseful as well as ironic in its underplayed humor. Kaye provides a variety of accents, making it obvious as to why he was one of the most popular comics among adults and children who would have to see this again on T.V. later on to further understand it.

Ironically released the same year as Hus big Paramount musical "White Christmas" opposite Bing Crosby, he had the honor of sharing with Bing two quite different performances other than that overrated Christmas perennial. Bing, nominated for an Oscar for "The Country Girl", is equally matched by Danny in this. The intelligent story got an Oscar nomination, and Kaye certainly ranks as among the best performances of 1954.

a ventriloquist caught up in espionage

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 27 August 2022]

Danny Kaye plays a ventriloquist caught up in mayhem in Melvin Frank's Academy Award-nominated "Knock on Wood". Admittedly, some of the material (i.e., the gender relations) is a little outdated, but the humor is as lovable as ever. Kaye does a number of his verbal puns, there are some zany gags with a car, and then there's one of the funniest ballet scenes ever. It goes to show why Kaye was one of the best comedians ever (although he did also have a serious side, appearing as a Holocaust survivor in a TV movie about a Nazi rally in Skokie).

Not one of the best comedies of all time, but enjoyable enough for its short run.

Was Mai Zetterling a babe or what?

Kaye's Brilliance as a Mimic

[bartonside · 9/10 · 6 May 2010]

This film is very special to me because when I left home to live in London in 1958, I saw this on my first evening in the city and, as I walked to the cinema, I realised I had not had to ask anyone if I could go or tell anyone where I was going! It was a moment of pure joy - I was free! Other reviewers have carped at the automatic sports car scene but I love this for two reasons: it is very well-constructed, very brief and only a great clown could have carried off. Secondly, Kaye uses his ability as a mimic to produce an impeccable English accent, something which very few Americans can manage (e.g. Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins).

amusing and entertaining

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 28 September 2020]

Having lost yet another girlfriend, a professional ventriloquist with some mental issues is urged to visit a specialist. On his way to Zurich he gets embroiled in dangerous intrigue, since a doll repairman has hidden parts of a top secret document in both of his dummies. Soon the ventriloquist will find himself having to outrun the police, being unjustly accused of murder...

I really like Danny Kaye comedies. "Knock on Wood" is certainly watchable and entertaining ; however, I would not classify it among his best. Kaye is charming but the intrigue could have used an extra layer of plotting, for instance with regard to various people trying to steal or identify the right dummy.

Still, "Knock on Wood" includes a number of funny scenes and quotable lines. At one point the psychiatrist asks the ventriloquist (Kaye, of course !) about his childhood experiences, which will turn out to have been relatively unhappy. His parents quarrelled all the time, but then they had to, because they were married... The latter half of the movie contains a remarkable sequence in which the unlucky ventriloquist tries hiding within a ballet company. Within minutes he finds himself on a stage, supposed to execute a number of hideously difficult steps.

In other words, the viewer gets one of the time-honoured staples of comedy and farce, to wit a royally messed-up ballet or opera performance. What is it that so inflames the comical imagination ? Is it some kind of class-related anger, along the lines of "I've got to slave in an office, while a bunch of skinny people earn good money by pretending they're swans and by poncing about in silly clothes ?"

As I already suggested in an earlier review : lovers of comedy may want to organize a pop quiz around this theme. ("Name various movies in which a ballet performance is disturbed by interlopers".) This movie here qualifies, as do "The intelligence men", "Make mine a million" and "Hellzapoppin", but the list must be long and varied... By the way, if you'd like more spoofs of the espionage genre, you may want to take a look at "The intelligence men", with Morecambe & Wise. It's not an immortal masterwork but it's got its moments.

One of the all-time funniest films.

[aadlaf · 10/10 · 4 July 2004]

The sequence in this film where Danny Kaye lands on the stage of an balletic opera in progress has got to rank up there with the funniest single scenes in motion picture history. The spoof is as spot-on as the "Fantasia" spoof of opera in the "Dance of the Hours" sequence. It's hard to explain how the previous reviewer thought the new-car-with-gadgets scene was the funniest; actually, it's the most dated, and "Knock on Wood" would be better off without it. The story is a wicked satire on espionage agents, with Danny caught up unawares in the center of an international spy ring. There's also a love story reminiscent of "Walter Mitty", but this is the funnier film of the two. Danny Kaye is one of the most underrated actors of all time. His facial expressions--conveying what he thinks, which is often opposite to what he or the other characters are saying--is like a second voice carrying the humor line. It's so well done that it seems mundane to people who are not on the lookout for it. Only Sid Caesar, of all the comics in American history, including Chaplin and the other silent greats, used his facial expressions to the supreme comic effect that Danny Kaye achieved. I might even rank Caesar above Kay, but unfortunately Caesar did not get any good movie roles. (Mel Brooks wanted him for "The Producers," and it would have become THE best comedy of all time if he had landed him, but some busybody associate producer hated Caesar and so he nixed the deal. How sad.) If I were pressed to choose among Danny Kaye's films, I guess I would choose "The Court Jester" above "Knock on Wood," in terms of all-round satisfaction. Yet the ballet spoof in "Knock on Wood" surpasses any single scene in "The Court Jester." If you never see it, you'll never know how funny a thing can be.

Ideal Kaye Vehicle

[aramis-112-804880 · 6/10 · 23 August 2022]

Danny Kaye vehicles (the word was chosen with care) are typically strings connecting sequences designed exhibit Mr. Kaye's peculiar talents. In that respect, this is the ideal Kaye movie.

The story, as if it mattered: Kaye is a ventriloquist who doesn't know secret papers are hidden in his dummies. He's pursued by two groups of spies. The End.

Some of Mr. Kaye's specialty sequences work well, particularly those involving an Irish song and a new car. A ballet seemingly based on "The Rite of Spring" runs too long. It may have inspired the climax of Bill Murray's "The Man Who Knew Too Little."

Song "Knock on Wood" (not the one from Casablanca") is a highlight.

"Knock on Wood" will never make the list of the greatest movies ever made but Danny Kaye movies were geared for his fans. They'll love it.

Jerry is a pretty creepy guy!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 26 August 2020]

When "Knock on Wood" begins, Jerry (Danny Kaye) is performing his ventriloquism act. However, when he mentions to the audience that he's engaged, something strange comes over him...he begins making bitter and disparaging remarks about his intended...through his dummy. It's as if the dummy is his alter-ego and something about Jerry hates this woman or the idea of marrying. It's apparently a recurring problem and Jerry's agent has had enough and insists that Jerry get therapy. So he takes him to Switzerland to see a top psychoanalyst. But what Jerry and his agent don't realize is that when Jerry's dummies were repaired, a spy stuck plans for a top secret airplane into each of them!

Jerry is expected back in London and the analyst does something odd--he assigns a lady therapist to work with him and she accompanies him to London. Once there, and before all the spy nonsense begins, he begins therapy and is 100% inappropriate with the therapist--spending his time analyzing her and acting very creepy towards her. And, as a therapist would do only in a movie, she eventually falls for this and begins talking out her issues regarding her dead fiance. Then, they begins to behave romantically towards each other! As a trained therapist, this REALLY bothered me...as everything about this 'therapy' was inappropriate and wrong. It also seemed to have little to do with the rest of the film.

Then, inexplicably, the story completely changes direction. Several spies sneak into Jerry's room to retrieve the secret plans and two of them are murdered! Soon, Jerry arrives and finds the bodies and screams for the police. When the police arrive, he acts very suspiciously and the police assume he is the killer. Soon everyone is trying to catch him...the police AND two rival groups of spies.

This is a very high energy film and at times it's pretty entertaining. But it also portrays a completely inappropriate relationship with Jerry and his lady therapist that is pretty grotesque AND at times a little of Kaye's shtick goes a long way. Subtle, he is not! Devoted fans of Kaye will probably love it...I just found it a bit tiresome after a while and wish the film had slowed down and spent more time on making the script less frenetic and more logical. There is a basic idea here that's interesting...but the film has too many flat moments and distractions to leave most viewers satisfied.

an excellent comedy

[bkuszak · 10/10 · 7 February 2004]

This ranks right up there with Danny Kayes "The Court Jester" when it comes to funny. You really need to pay attention to the dialog, because there are so many neat little jokes to hear. Such as when Danny Kaye tries to talk to his agent on whether or not he is crazy or peculiar. I won't tell you how it goes but it's very cool the way his agent lets him know. Then there are so many little things going on in this movie that even though I've watched the movie a numerous amount of times it still seems to be a longer movie than it really is. There is just so much going on in the movie. This is a really good family movie where everyone will enjoy it.

One of Danny Kaye's funniest

[alazose · 9/10 · 14 January 2004]

This, in my opinion, is one of Kaye's funniest performances, showcasing his comedic, singing, and dancing talents to the fullest. Not to be missed is the movie's finale, where Kaye finds himself on the stage of a London ballet as the leading dancer while simultaneously trying to escape from the baddies.

One of the five all-time best comedies

[aadlaf · 10/10 · 24 February 2003]

There is a scene in KNOCK ON WOOD in which Danny Kaye, trying to escape from the London police, finds himself backstage during an overly dramatic Russian ballet, and soon enough, is onstage, heavy-footedly trying to blend into the scene without being spotted by the police in the audience. The result is the single best spoof of ballet the live side of animation (with "Dance of the Hours" in FANTASIA being its cartoon match). I actually saw Danny Kaye do this routine onstage at the Palace Theatre in New York where, great though it was, the closeups provided by the movie camera make the film version even more hilarious. Kaye is one of the most underrated actors of all time. This movie shows his brilliance and range. His facial expressions are as brilliantly comic as Sid Caesar's, and the two of them leave the rest of the pack far behind. (Is Robin Williams a distant third?)

KNOCK ON WOOD is uneven. It's not the most perfectly realized Kaye film--that honor goes either to SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY or COURT JESTER. The latter, being a musical, maybe is the best. COURT JESTER is overall funnier than KNOCK ON WOOD, but no scene in it comes close to the ballet spoof.

A riotous Danny Kaye film - or, The Red-Headed Ripper Strikes Again

[SimonJack · 10/10 · 3 August 2014]

Danny Kaye made only 17 big screen movies and six TV movies in his 50-year career. He was surely in demand to do more. But like other many-talented physical performers (i.e., Fred Astaire), Kaye took time to perfect his often complicated routines. And, his films were mostly in his first 30 years. He had his own highly popular TV series that ran over five years, 1963-1967, and he made guest appearances on other shows.

Kaye was one of the few multi-talented performers on stage and the silver screen; and I think he was one of the best. He was primarily known as a comedian. But he was an excellent dancer and singer as well. He was a first-rate mimic. He had a versatile voice and could imitate various ethnic voices. And, he was the singular master of tongue-twisters. His rapid-fire, tongue-twister monologues and songs were marvelous to see and hear.

About the middle of his career, Kaye made "Knock on Wood." He plays a ventriloquist, Jerry Morgan, who unwittingly gets involved in an espionage caper between Paris and London. Kaye sings, dances, tongue-twists, and ruses his way through many a scrape in this delightful comedy. He has his usual slapstick situations, and is riotous in a ballet sequence. When three bodies turn up in his hotel rooms, he becomes known in London as the "red-headed ripper." Two of the most hilarious escapades are his posing as an English gentleman and then as an Irishman at a Sons of Hibernia convention. His tongue-twister song in brogue is over the top funny.

Danny Kaye played a couple of serious roles in films, but mostly was an entertainer who relished making people laugh. Kaye never won an Oscar but was given an honorary Academy Award for his exceptional talents and service to filmdom and America. He was just 44 when he received that award in 1955. He did win two Golden Globes - for "On the Riviera" in 1952 and "Me and the Colonel" in 1958. And, he won an Emmy for his TV comedy series. In 1982, he received another award from the Hollywood academy - the Jean Herscholt Humanitarian Award. For many years, Kaye was ambassador at large for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the organization asked him to accept the 1955 Nobel Peace Prize it was awarded.

Kaye is probably most known today for his co-starring role with Bing Crosby in "White Christmas." In 1955, he was near the end of his roles with much physical activity, and he focused more on music. He played Red Nichols in that music man's 1959 biopic, "The Five Pennies." Kaye toured with Bob Hope shows for American service men overseas. Hope said Kaye was his favorite comedian.

Whatever Danny Kaye was in was worth watching. Kaye said that he was born to entertain people. All of his comedy films are among the best of the genre. The inimitable Danny Kaye shines in this wonderful comedy, as he does in all the others. It's pure joyful and fun entertainment for the whole family.

Danny Kaye as a ventriloquist getting mixed up with Man Zetterling as doctor Nordström, a psychiatrist

[clanciai · 10/10 · 22 January 2021]

He also gets mixed up with two dummies, which he now and then gets into arguments with ending by his smashing them to pieces, so his doll fixer in Paris, Monsieur Papinek, gets very busy with Danny Kaye's doll destructions while at the same time he gets mixed up with some serious spying business, which eventually also involves the totally innocent Danny Kaye, since his dummies are used for smuggling state secrets. That's the beginning of the mess. Danny Kaye in almost all his films excels in getting immersed in unfathomably deep trouble, but somehow he always manages to extricate himself out of it as well, no matter how complicated the mess of circumstances gets. Here it starts in Paris, continues in Zürich and then ends up in London and even at a theatre with a tremendous ballet performance which almost brings the conductor to a nervous breakdown. There are many crooks here, and they are difficult to keep track of, while they gradually one by one are sorted out by constantly accumulating murders. I am afraid anyone could laugh himself to death by this film. It must be one of Danny Kaye's funniest if not the very funniest, and the virtuoso action will never keep you relaxed for a moment. Mai Zetterling though, with her wonderful blue eyes that Danny Kaye instantly falls in love with, seems to be the only one keeping rather cool, while ultimately even she is brought to some smiling by Danny Kaye's indefatigable desperation.