The Kid from Brooklyn

I agree with the other user comments here on this site that state it helps to like Danny Kaye in the first place, because the film offers nothing fresh and exciting outside of a love for musicals and Kaye's effervescent madcap malarkey. It's a perfect showcase for Kaye to let loose and he delivers smartly as the humble milkman mistakenly built up as a prize fighter of note who then proceeds to lose the grip on his ego. He is surrounded by very stoic actors and they all benefit from a tidy script and foot tapping tunes, and sure enough the laughs are dotted throughout the show, but it still feels like they plonked Danny Kaye on set and built a film around him.

It's also of interest to note the back story of the film actually being a remake of Harold Lloyd's 1936 film The Milky Way, that is something that few people are aware of and great effort was made by the makers of The Kid From Brooklyn to distance themselves from the 36 film. So with that in mind it's hard to not view this film as merely a Kaye vehicle without much heart, and with that I say the film is entertaining enough without being close to being a really good Danny Kaye movie, 6/10.

Cute, silly very lightweight comic musical with Kaye antic as ever and an amazing array of wonderful supporting actresses.

As for the main story it's a bit of nonsense about beanpole milkman Danny somehow becoming a winning prize fighter after accidentally knocking out the reigning champ. As preposterous as it sounds, the cast still make it fun by playing the goofy situations straight faced.

About those supporting actresses. Eve Arden is acerbic and terrifically droll as a wised up gal with an astounding wardrobe and a way with a quip. Vera-Ellen in only her second film is youthful, fresh and she dances like a dream. She hadn't at this point succumbed to the over dieting that would make her emaciated with a frighteningly tiny waist and is buoyant and peppy. Fay Bainter is all fractured dignity as a society matron with a pugilistic bent and then there's Virginia Mayo sweetly charming and at the height of her beauty. They all perform expertly and since the film is shot in old style Technicolor they are all attired in primary hues which makes the screen alight with color.

Best for Danny's fans but a fun comedy for anyone who is willing to suspend belief for a couple of hours.

Danny Kaye began to show his comic genius in this so-so film of 1946. He would star with his constant co-star Viginia Mayo. In this film, he plays a milque-toast milkman and often acts like he is ready to do Walter Mytty. He is mistaken for knocking out a prize fighter (Steve Cochran) and that's when the fun starts.

Cochran, managed by Walter Abel with a wise-cracking girlfriend, Eve Arden, tries to recruit Kaye to fight in the ring. Kaye is hilarious in the ring but it doesn't take a genius to note that the fights are fixed so that Kaye will win.

Mayo plays his love interest and sings delightfully. Vera-Ellen plays his charming sister and dances up a storm in a number called "Josie." To complicate the plot somewhat, Ellen and Cochran fall for each other.

Fay Bainter is a steal scener playing a patron of the arts who tries to spar with Kaye. The scenes with them doing this are hilarious.

The picture goes downhill as success spoils Kaye and he goes into inane musical routines.

The film is definitely for the lighthearted. Beautifully filmed in Technicolor.

"The Kid from Brooklyn" is a remake of the Harold Lloyd movie, "The Milky Way". Now why they chose this Lloyd story to remake is puzzling, as this original story wasn't very good and is among Lloyd's least films. It's not a terrible film...but a mediocre one. Can Kaye and company manage to improve on the original or is it a dull remake of a pretty dull original?

Burleigh Sullivan (Kaye) is a wimpy but nice milk man. One day, he gets into a fight with two guys on the street and somehow the two ended up being knocked out. One of the pair turns out to be the middleweight boxing champion...so the middleweight's promoter takes on Burleigh as his new boxer. This is because there's been a lot of publicity about this 'fight'. However, soon Burleigh tells them the truth...the pair swung at him at the same time and he ducked...and they knocked each other out. But no matter...the promoter couldn't care less if Burleigh could box or not, as he plans on fixing Burleigh's boxing matches...only to let him get the snot knocked out of him eventually...when the promoter can make a fortune betting against him.

The biggest way this is different from the Lloyd film are several song and dance numbers...ones that in no way improve upon the original. Also, Kaye seems to mug a bit more...at least more than Lloyd did. Overall, an okay remake of an okay film....the very definition of okayness!

This light-hearted fantasy/comedy/musical is basically a showcase for the many talents of Danny Kaye. Those who particularly like the simple and wholesome humor of Danny Kaye will be well entertained. Even those who don't should find some good low-key laughs and be generally amused throughout. The dialogue is sparse but occasionally shows a clever dry wit, as in "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have minded". The entire cast works very well togethor and the interplay between Eve Arden and Danny Kaye is particularly good. The song and dance is competent but uninspired.