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Danny Dark Eyes
About this film
History esteems Danny Kaye as one of Hollywood's most popular and versatile stars of the World War II era. Kaye did it all -- he could sing, dance and chew scenery with reckless abandon. His face was a contortionist's trampoline and his voice was an instrument only one man knew how to play. Evidence of his theatrical skills is abundant, albeit sometimes difficult to find in the 21st Century. Time, however, has not been generous to Kaye's legacy. His comedy now seems so over the top that he ends up absorbing the brunt of his own schtick. This doesn't account for his bad puns dressed as worse jokes. But any fair appraisal of Danny Kaye's work must consider that it was originally conceived for assembled large audiences watching together in large rooms. They needed time for the "lines to land". So Kaye's routines -- and more importantly his timing -- were dictated by that fact. When "Wonder Man" was released in 1945, nobody considered the film would be seen by an "audience" of individuals watching alone in different locations at different times on pods, pads, cell phones and other small screens unconnected to "projectors". Taking all that into consideration, the routine in this clip is…
Directors & creators
Jamie Jobb
Subjects
Danny Kaye; Wonder Man (1945); Dark Eyes; Ochi chyornye; Valey Favva; Alexander Molosotov; A.V. Alexandrov Russian Army Twice Red-Bannered Academic Song and Dance Ensemble; the Red Army Band; Total Balalaika Show;
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