Wonder Man

This has always been my favourite Danny Kaye movie, it sustains the humour and story up to the end pretty well. All of his films are a roller-coaster for me: helpless tearful laughter one second, grim pained winces next, and WM is no exception to this rule, even though I love it. Perhaps he only needed a little more ... discipline in his comedy routines, to know when to stop, maybe at the 3rd joke stopped sneeze in a row etc. Sylvia Fine could have been a bigger help in this regard of course. On the other hand maybe we should be grateful for what we've got, and anyway in the end who'd really have wanted him any other way?

It may seem a little rough for the charismatic Buzzy Bellew to get murdered and come back as a ghost seeking proxy justice through the intermediary of his mono-zygotic twin brother Edwin Dingle, both comically played by Kaye. But this was just after the War and people generally weren't too sensitive at that point and didn't normally morbidly dwell on Sam Goldwyn's Technicolor fantasies. And that's basically all there is to it, a fine cast make the most of a good script. The special effects are OK but Time has wreaked its usual havoc on the actual film itself, and technology has also ruined us in the intervening years.

Favorite bits: Kaye repeatedly asking Cuddles in the delicatessen for a pint of Prospect Park; Kaye pretending he was in a pet shop (not a theatre) over the phone to Virginia Mayo; the sudden change into an operatic tenor; hearing Richard Lane's voice scything through everything. Bad bits: the Goldwyn Girls' one scene - no wonder Mayo stood out! The gaps in the mortals' conversation for the ghost to speak his lines was also too apparent - but hey, I said that I love this film!

Wonder Man is the first film I've seen with Danny Kaye, and I enjoyed it. The humor is light, inoffensive, and Danny Kaye does it well. Besides Kaye, there were a few notable funny characters, such as the deli shop owner and the drunk at the bar. Well worth watching if you're in the mood for a happy and funny film.

This is the first Danny Kaye film I've seen and I feel in love with what a wonderfully talented person he is. This film is great fun to watch and if you're looking for something that is light, funny, romantic, enjoyable, and has a lovely plot with good effects, this is it. Kaye is a charming, sweet, and appealing character, and when his ghost twin enters his body whenever he feels like it, his performance is even funnier, especially the scene in the wings of the theatre where he makes farmyard noises into the telephone! Definitely recommended to anyone who loves Kaye's comedy, or simply wants an hour or two of entertaining fun!

A fanciful, light-hearted comedy with cheerful dance numbers and jolly jokes. This means that the movie was pretty much the polar opposite to what had been happening in the real world for the last ten years or so.

The visual and special effects were superb for their time - they're still quite successful - but this was about the only aspect in which the movie was innovative and progressive. The general subject matter (twins and twin-related confusion) is as classic as can be, going back all the way to Antiquity. Moreover, the movie's denouement rests on one of the great staples of comedy and farce, to wit a royally messed-up opera performance. (Still, the person who wrote the lines "Choo-Choo.. Laverne... is.. is.. is... Minnie Smith !" deserved a pay rise the size of China.)

Well worth a watch, although the colours may seem somewhat harsh and gaudy to the modern eye.

DANNY KAYE was still on a winning streak when he made WONDER MAN for Samuel Goldwyn, a lavish technicolor treat that his him at his dazzling best as a performer--totally convincing in a dual role that expands his range. First, he's the brass nightclub comic/singer and secondly, he's the mild bookworm with the photographic memory. He does both roles with such effortless aplomb that he's a pleasure to watch.

Early in the show, we get to see how Sylvia Fine's lyrics for a song like "Balinese-Boogee" can come up with such inventive rhymes as: "she's the Balinese equivalent of Olivia de Havillent". And the trick photography is nothing short of amazing. All of the effects are worthy of the Oscar they won.

His partner is the delectable VIRGINIA MAYO, looking as luscious as usual in her technicolor close-ups and VERA-ELLEN delivering a couple of dance routines that showcase her own special talent.

There's an amusing turn by Natalie Schaefer as a matron in the library, and S.Z. Sakall does his usual schtick as a delicatessen owner. But it's Danny's show all the way--and his romp through an operatic number where he's telling the D.A. who the culprit is, is hilariously witty and full of what appear to be impromptu sight gags in the Kaye style.

Summing up: Ranks with the best of the Danny Kaye films.