A radio salesman finds himself transported back in time to King Arthur's court.A radio salesman finds himself transported back in time to King Arthur's court.A radio salesman finds himself transported back in time to King Arthur's court.
Richard Alexander
- Sagramore's Knight
- (uncredited)
Ralph W. Bell
- Undetermined Secondary Role
- (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone
- King's Knight
- (uncredited)
Ward Bond
- Queen's Knight
- (uncredited)
Heinie Conklin
- Sneezing Man at Radio Station
- (uncredited)
Louise Emmons
- Old Hag in Dungeon
- (uncredited)
Budd Fine
- Queen's Knight
- (uncredited)
Jerry Frank
- Queen's Knight
- (uncredited)
Chuck Hamilton
- King's Knight
- (uncredited)
Rosina Lawrence
- Handmaiden
- (uncredited)
Ivan Linow
- King's Guard
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe version presently available, shown on Turner Classic Movies in January 2021, is the 1936 re-release, with a Twentieth Century-Fox logo, redesigned opening and closing credits, and original exit music eliminated. The shorter running time (85 minutes) also indicates that some editing had been done, most likely in order to meet Production Code demands which were not in effect at the time of the film's original release (though Will Rogers' exclamation "Canst thou tell me where the helleth I am?" remains in the print).
- GoofsWhen Hank is to be burnt at the stake at "high noon", the shadows on the ground indicate that the hour is between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
- Quotes
Hank Martin: Yes, sir, we're getting the supply here, and then I'll create the demand. All you got to do is to persuade people they need things that they've been happy without all their lives.
King Arthur: And by what magic wilt thou do this?
Hank Martin: Ah, by a special magic called advertising.
King Arthur: Advertising. Hmm. Is it a potent charm?
Hank Martin: Ah, potent? Say, it makes you spend money you haven't got for things you don't want.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years (1997)
Featured review
No one has ever gotten the Mark Twain satire down quite right in any of the versions of A Connecticut Yankee that have been filmed including the best known versions, this one and the one done in 1949 starring Bing Crosby. But along the way we've gotten some fine entertainment out of the notion of time travel, very unique at the time that Twain wrote the novel.
With both Will and Bing a built in audience was guaranteed for their respective versions, A Connecticut Yankee being privileged to have two of America's most beloved entertainers taking the role. Each invested their personalities in the part which made both films the success they respectively were.
This version is slightly updated from the novel which takes place at the cusp of the new 20th century. It starts during the present, the present of 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression. Will Rogers is not a blacksmith, he's a radio repairman who is called out on a dark and stormy night to fix a radio in the mansion where some strange characters inhabit. An accident knocks him out and he's taken back some 1400 years to the court of King Arthur at Camelot.
During the course of the film Rogers brings about far more of the "blessings" of technology to Camelot than Crosby did in his film. The absurd climax with the Knights of the Round Table storming Morgan Le Fay's castle with all kinds of 20th century weaponry is the ultimate proof of that.
In the novel Twain had the Yankee's character be his mouthpiece for his views. In that sense Rogers as the voice of the modern era was uniquely suited to the part even though his accent was far more Oklahoma than Connecticut. In a gentler way Rogers made a lot of the same points in real life that he does in this film, in his newspaper columns and on his lecture tours.
Two women who later went to MGM around the same time co-star with Will Rogers in A Connecticut Yankee. Maureen O'Sullivan who was a year away from her breakout role as Jane in Tarzan the Ape Man plays Lady Melisande, the daughter of William Farnum as King Arthur. Young Frank Albertson who Rogers takes under his wing as a protégé is in love with her and the Connecticut Yankee plays cupid. And before she became the perfect American wife Myrna Loy was playing all kinds of villainous roles as she is here as Morgan LeFay. Ironically in The Thin Man where Loy forever changed Loy's image Maureen O'Sullivan also had a prominent role in that classic film.
The most recent version of this often filmed tale is Bad Knight with Martin Lawrence, not a bad version either. However I don't think Martin Lawrence would even say he's quite up there in the public consciousness that Will Rogers or Bing Crosby ever got. Though this film is more Rogers than Twain, that's not a bad thing at all.
With both Will and Bing a built in audience was guaranteed for their respective versions, A Connecticut Yankee being privileged to have two of America's most beloved entertainers taking the role. Each invested their personalities in the part which made both films the success they respectively were.
This version is slightly updated from the novel which takes place at the cusp of the new 20th century. It starts during the present, the present of 1931 in the midst of the Great Depression. Will Rogers is not a blacksmith, he's a radio repairman who is called out on a dark and stormy night to fix a radio in the mansion where some strange characters inhabit. An accident knocks him out and he's taken back some 1400 years to the court of King Arthur at Camelot.
During the course of the film Rogers brings about far more of the "blessings" of technology to Camelot than Crosby did in his film. The absurd climax with the Knights of the Round Table storming Morgan Le Fay's castle with all kinds of 20th century weaponry is the ultimate proof of that.
In the novel Twain had the Yankee's character be his mouthpiece for his views. In that sense Rogers as the voice of the modern era was uniquely suited to the part even though his accent was far more Oklahoma than Connecticut. In a gentler way Rogers made a lot of the same points in real life that he does in this film, in his newspaper columns and on his lecture tours.
Two women who later went to MGM around the same time co-star with Will Rogers in A Connecticut Yankee. Maureen O'Sullivan who was a year away from her breakout role as Jane in Tarzan the Ape Man plays Lady Melisande, the daughter of William Farnum as King Arthur. Young Frank Albertson who Rogers takes under his wing as a protégé is in love with her and the Connecticut Yankee plays cupid. And before she became the perfect American wife Myrna Loy was playing all kinds of villainous roles as she is here as Morgan LeFay. Ironically in The Thin Man where Loy forever changed Loy's image Maureen O'Sullivan also had a prominent role in that classic film.
The most recent version of this often filmed tale is Bad Knight with Martin Lawrence, not a bad version either. However I don't think Martin Lawrence would even say he's quite up there in the public consciousness that Will Rogers or Bing Crosby ever got. Though this film is more Rogers than Twain, that's not a bad thing at all.
- bkoganbing
- Mar 25, 2010
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Details
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
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