Main Cast: Will Rogers, William Farnum, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Albertson
Release Year: 1931
Country: US
Run Time: 96 minutes
Plot
This Mark Twain adaptation affords a rare opportunity to enjoy a "collaboration" between two of America's greatest humorists. Will Rogers plays the operator of a tiny radio repair shop, who is called to an old mansion to replace a battery on a dark and stormy night. Here Will meets a scientist (William Farnum) who thinks he can contact King Arthur by radio, a sinister butler (Brandon Hurst), a pair of young lovers who've been forbidden to see one another, and a seductive femme fatale (Myrna Loy). Suffering a blow on the head, Rogers wakes up in 9th-century Camelot. "Could you please tell me where the helleth I am?" Rogers remarks when captured by Sir Sagramor (Brandon Hurst); condemned to burn at the stake as a "sorcerer," Rogers saves himself by pretending to conjure up a solar eclipse. Dubbed Sir Boss, Rogers brings 20th-century mechanization to Camelot, taking time out for long, ad-libbed ramblings about the state of the world in 1931. Sir Boss' new friend King Arthur (William Farnum) is being undermined by Morgan le Fey (Myrna Loy) and Merlin (Brandon Hurst). After finding out that Clarence is his own ancestor, Rogers races against time to keep Clarence alive and get him married to Melisande (Maureen O'Sullivan). The last-minute ride to the rescue finds King Arthur's knights commandeering Model Ts, tanks and autogiros Connecticut Yankee predates Wizard of Oz by having the characters in Camelot and the residents of the modern-day mansion played by the same actors. In the original prints, Rogers' face was tinted red after receiving a kiss from Myrna Loy; this cute sight gag has been restored by computer to the videocassette version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
One of the remarkable attributes of Will Rogers was his resiliency -- although producers obviously favored homespun, rural subjects for his films, you could seemingly put him anywhere and audiences would accept him. Hence this filming of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, which even manages to put what modern audiences would describe as a "Back To the Future" twist on the plot as part of its cliffhanger ending. Actor-turned-director David Butler, who had previously helmed the science-fiction/musical Just Imagine, turns his attention to fantasy here and correctly lets his star, Will Rogers, carry the picture, as the homespun, deceptively clever modern man moved out of his element when he is plunged 1000 years into the past. This is a Will Rogers vehicle, much as, say, Roman Scandals or Ali Baba Goes To Town were Eddie Cantor vehicles, or the 1940's remake of this same story was built around Bing Crosby, so the real focus is Rogers rather than the story -- and as much as any of the John Ford-directed Rogers films of the era, it's a good way for modern viewers to discover the actor's appeal. That, and the conceits of the original Twain tale, still carry this picture well seven decades later, even if they don't seem as clever now as they did then. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Sophie Wachner - Costume Designer, David Butler - Director, Irene Morra - Editor, William S. Darling - Production Designer, Ernest Palmer - Cinematographer, Ralph Hammeras - Special Effects, Fred Sersen - Special Effects, Joseph E. Aiken - Sound/Sound Designer, William Conselman - Screenwriter, Owen Davis, Sr. - Screenwriter, Mark Twain - Short Story Author
