Knock on Wood

"The No. 1 Song-and-Dance Clown at his best!"

1954 1h 43m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 35

ActionComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has failed with another love affair. The reason: when the relationship reaches the point when it is time to discuss marriage, his two dolls become mean and jealous. Morgan's dollmaker Papinek is a member of a spy ring who has stolen the secret plans for the top-secret Lafayette airplane. Since Morgan is leaving for Zurich the same night, he decides to hide the secret plan in the heads of the dolls.

“The No. 1 Song-and-Dance Clown at his best!”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

Danny Kaye
Jerry Morgan
Mai Zetterling
Ilse Nordstrom
Torin Thatcher
Godfrey Langston
David Burns
Marty Brown
Leon Askin
Laslo Gromeck
Abner Biberman
Maurice Papinek
Gavin Gordon
Car Salesman
Otto Waldis
Brodnik

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Melvin Frank
Writers: Melvin Frank, Norman Panama
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

72 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Melvin Frank, shot by Daniel L. Fapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Victor Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Alma Macrorie shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Danny Kaye and Mai Zetterling and Torin Thatcher carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The No. 1 Song-and-Dance Clown at his best!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0047152 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 35 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Melvin Frank directs. Daniel L. Fapp behind the camera. Victor Young scores. Alma Macrorie cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

172 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Melvin Frank, shot by Daniel L. Fapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Victor Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Alma Macrorie shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Danny Kaye and Mai Zetterling and Torin Thatcher carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "The No. 1 Song-and-Dance Clown at his best!".
7IMDB entry: tt0047152 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 35 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Daniel L. Fapp
Original score: Victor Young
Editing: Alma Macrorie
Costume design: Edith Head
Makeup / hair: Wally Westmore
Runtime: 103 min · 1h 43m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Knock on Wood (1954)

Also by

Melvin Frank

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-08-01
★ 6/10
With Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly dominating this genre, it's easy to forget that Danny Kaye was actually quite an accomplished dancer and singer - and he demonstrates that quite charismatically in this rather daft spy caper. Here he also reminds us of just how popular ventriloquists were as his "Jerry" character finds himself embroiled in an international espionage ring that involves some top secret blueprints, his dummy's brand new head and the dastardly British industrialist "Langston" (Torin Thatcher). It's this latter man who turns out to want to acquire and sell on the plans - but there is no absence of competitors who are trying to entrap our hapless entertainer. Meantime, he begins to fall for the sceptical "Dr. Ilse" (Mai Zetterling) and she - slightly uncertain as to whether he's a bit screwy or not - soon finds herself equally involved in the increasingly farcical goings on in a fine Zurich hotel. It's all fairly predicable, borderline slapstick, fayre but there's a fair degree of agreeable chemistry between Kaye and Zetterling with both being quite adept on the dance floor and him delivering a couple of cheery, if not entirely memorable, numbers from Sylvia Fine. The production quality lets it down a bit if you happen to know anything about actually living in London, but there's still some humour in the writing that Kaye delivers quite engagingly as we build to a denouement straight out of "Sherlock Holmes" that takes a few pings at the international jet-set en route.

Production companies