Wonder Man (1945)

Danny Kaye plays a dual role in this comedy spotlighting his multitude of talents in singing, dancing and physical comedy. Just before he's about to testify against the mob, the fast-living nightclub entertainer Buzzy Bellew is slain. But Buzzy's ghost promptly proceeds to haunt his rather reserved, bookish twin Edwin... until Edwin agrees to take his place on the stage. Hoping to catch those responsible for the killing, the shy librarian not only capably steps into his double's dancing shoes, but also into the arms of Buzzy's fiancée. Product Description

A Warning

This is not a review of the movie itself but of the quality of the print being offered. The movie is well worth owning and this seems to be the only "rare" edition available. However the print itself seems fair at best. Though the color is bright enough the shading tends toward the dark side, and the focus is a bit fuzzy. There are no extras - on my copy the film starts immediately with the menu at the end. When it says "digitally remastered" I consider that it has been cleaned up to a sparkling print. This has all the feel of a pirated copy to me, though I don't believe that is due to the sellers. It may indeed be legit but I must say I am disaapointed in the quality. I know some folks don't seem to mind the quality of materials on their DVDs as much as I might, but for those looking for a clean crisp print, this isn't it. Though it will have to do until whoever owns the licensing for it puts up a decent tribute to Danny Kaye and these Samuel Goldman films - which are wonders in themselves. Normally a five star movie - this edition gets three for lower quality. April 26, 2008

Kaye's greatest

I saw this movie 7 times when it first came out. I thought then, and I still do, that Danny Kaye was never as funny as he was in this film. February 17, 2008

Hysterical

This is one of my all time favorite movies and not easy to find. The music is lively and the antics are purely classic Kaye. This is a must see for anyone who loves musicals and comedy. There are some great character actors in this piece and ordering potato salad has never been so silly. September 26, 2007

Wonder Man

Danny Kaye plays two parts; 1) A dead twin brother who is a singer/dancer and 2) his identical book worm brother. The 2 men merge together and causes chaos and perfect comedy with great songs. His love interest is Virginia Mayo. June 11, 2007

"As Shakespeare once said - Buster!"

Mostly, I enjoy Danny Kaye. I consider him to be a close second as the funniest redhead in showbiz (do I even have to mention who the funniest one is?). He comes across as this warm and gentle guy with massive comedic and musical gifts who, perhaps, at times, had a penchant for too much mugging (but maybe his writers were to blame). He exhibited a flair for funny facial expressions and for introducing songs rife with glib, rapid-fire double speak and tongue twisters and was also a natural at physical comedy. With the success of his first starring role in the 1944 feature UP IN ARMS, the powers-that-be in Hollywood couldn't wait to throw Danny Kaye back into the public consciousness. So, a year later, Kaye's second feature film WONDER MAN was released.

Here's the outrageous plot: When carefree and popular nightclub performer Buster Dingle (Danny Kaye), whose stage name is Buzzy Bellew, is gunned down for having witnessed a murder, his ghost comes back and convinces his shy, bookish twin brother Edwin Dingle (also Danny Kaye) to pose as himself until things are set right.

But Edwin, who may have a photographic mind and may be able to write simultaneously with both hands, is a life long maladroit and needs all the help he can get in the unfamiliar world of savvy crooks and glitzy show business. And that help comes in the form of Buster's ghost as, often, events conspire to force Buster to take over Edwin's body to bail him out of a jam, with predictably zany results. Eventually, after some more farcical bits and several wacky musical numbers, the bad guy is nabbed and the girl is won over.

With sumptuous eye candy being provided by a game Virginia Mayo, who plays the lovely and wholesome librarian Ellen, and newbie Vera-Ellen, here making her film debut as club entertainer and Buzzy's fiancee Midge, the main draw here is still Danny Kaye. His wife Sylvia Fine, throughout Danny's career, has excelled in writing specialty lyrics and songs which ideally suited his talents for mimicry and double speak. She contributes here with "Bali Boogie" and adapts the Russian song "Otchi Tchorniya" to Danny Kaye's particular brand of musical mayhem. I'm not sure if she has anything to do with Kaye's uproarious skewering of opera near the end, although I would suspect...yeah.

In the course of his acting career, Danny Kaye's resume boasts less than 20 feature films. WONDER MAN falls somewhere just below his very best cinematic works. For my money, his two best pictures are THE COURT JESTER (1956) and THE FIVE PENNIES (1959). In fact, I consider THE INSPECTOR GENERAL (1949) and THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947) to be better than WONDER MAN. Here, Kaye mugs just a bit too often for my taste. I don't much care for his telephoned barnyard noises, and his "Palpably Inadequate Blues" routine in Prospect Park gratingly channels Jerry Lewis at his histrionical worst. Sadly, a good portion of the gags in this film is too broad and dated.

Now, with all that, I can still never quite bring myself to give a Danny Kaye film a rating below three stars, and I've seen just about all of 'em. I'll always feel that his potential was never fully tapped, but in other films and even in several scenes in this one, we get a glimpse of how entertaining and talented this man is. To quote several of the extras in this film: "What a guy." WONDER MAN, with its flaws, is still pretty diverting stuff and solidly delivers on what the audience expects, which is Danny Kaye unleashed. It's a good enough flick and merits three and a half stars.
February 12, 2007

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