2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Eric Stevenson I had no idea that this movie starred Bing Crosby and he was certainly well cast. The movie is littered with his awesome songs which really make the film. I'm not that familiar with the original Mark Twain novel. Anyway, I still understand most of it as it's basically just about a guy from modern times who travels back in time to King Arthur days. This was a pretty early movie to be filmed entirely in color. It really does show with how bright it is in contrast to other films at this time. I think the best thing about it is probably how timeless it is.So basically, this movie takes place initially back in 1912, although it was obviously made in 1949. It was based on a book written in 1889 and it mostly takes place in 528. Wow, that's a lot of different years! It really doesn't matter which of any of those times it takes place because it still certainly feels like a modern movie. That's what any classic film should do. I really do find the main character likable and I sincerely want him to get out okay. Maybe it's a bit too long but it's still faithful to the feel of Mark Twain. ***

Hitchcoc This book by Mark Twain is one of the most razor sharp depictions of the stupidity of people and their foibles and their willingness to participate in their own destruction. This movie is silly and ignores virtually every point Twain ever made. It's understandable. It pokes fun at religion and the blind following of dogma. Bing Crosby, a great singer,would never have agreed to be in a movie that knocks sacred cows. I see the movie as forgettable and blah entertainment and I hope that someday a producer and director will take this story and do a decent job of filming it. Don't get me wrong. Some of the more spectacular events from the book are portrayed (the total eclipse, for example), but they don't make any point.

Neil Welch 50 years old, this musical comedy fantasy might look its age, but it wears it with dignity.This film is still great fun. Crosby was never really romantic lead material, but he delivers the material with the lightly humorous edge it needs. Bendix plays broad and is huge fun in a part which calls upon his strengths. Hardwicke - how joyous for a knight of the realm - a genuine one - to throw himself into caperings like this with such abandon. And Rhonda Fleming enjoys herself in the least showy of the main roles. Only Murvyn Vye disappoints as an unconvincing Merlin.Though not a musical, the songs are very good, and the "dance" routine accompanying Busy Doing Nothing is perfect - funny, appropriate, dexterous without being challenging, and making a virtue out of Crosby's musical movement which, let's be fair, was inherently amusing due to its never being his greatest strength.The colour is fine, the sound is a little muddy in places.And the story - well, it takes some liberties with the original, but I suspect that Mr Clemens might well have been pleased with the result.

lzf0 Well, all of the Bingisms are there. The boo-boo-boo, calling adversaries "Buster", the easy going attitude which hides the cowardly con artist inside. But somehow Crosby is restrained. Sure, he looks at the camera and has flip comments to make. But it all should have been broader. Even William Bendix is restrained! I suppose director Garnett was looking to down play the slapstick of it all. This film has little to do with the biting satire of Mark Twain and has little to do with the famous Rodgers and Hart stage musical. The Van Heusen-Burke musical numbers ("If You Stub Your Toe on the Moon", "When is Sometime" and "Once and for Always") are above average songs, but they can't compare with "Thou Swell", "My Heart Stood Still", "To Keep My Love Alive", and "I Feel at Home with You". If you listen to Crosby's 1957 recording of "Thou Swell" on his superior album "Bing Sings Whilest Bregman Swings", you can tell that the song fits him like a glove. Too bad he doesn't do it in the movie. As for the Rodgers and Hart version, there exists somewhere a kinoscope of a 1955 TV production starring Eddie "Green Acres" Albert. A CD has been released of the soundtrack. I would love to see this version of "A Connecticut Yankee". Until it is made available, I guess I will have to settle for boo-boo-boo, Buster!