Le joyeux phénomène

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.

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!

I have always loved and admired Danny Kaye.

Although I agree his brand of zany comedy will not be everybody's cup of tea, his films (especially his early ones like this one) never fail in creasing me up.

He not only had singing and dancing ability on par with the greats, he had a distinct flair for comedy and performed it expertly not only through his lines and comic timing, but with his body and facial expressions, not to mention his rapid fire double talk and tongue twisters. A truly talented man.

Wonderman made in 1945 shows Kaye at his best in what was possibly his second or third movie appearance. In these transformation days from stage entertainer to movie star, he was able to bring his old acts from the circuits and transfer them to screen with ease, for a new and appreciative audience. Indeed one of the two characters Kaye plays in the film is a nightclub entertainer by the name of Buzzy Bellew not too far removed from the real Kaye himself.

The other character Kaye plays is Bellew's egg-head brother, straight as a die and sensible to the core, thus giving Kaye ample chance to show off both sides to his versatile talents.

When Bellew is murdered by the mob for knowing a trifle more than was good for him, he returns in ghost form to rope in his gawky identical twin brother, to take his place and bring the mobster to account.

The comedy is so funny at times that you fail to realize the real tragedy of the situation, a young man with a beautiful fiancé and successful life in front of him, has been murdered and dumped rather disrespectfully in the river in Prospect Park.

But hey....Bellew seems to be so cool and glib about the whole thing, that if he doesn't care too much about it I'm damned if I will.

Great musical numbers and (for it's day) state of the art special effects compliment the great comic turns delivered by Kaye.

Two funny lines to watch out for are:- "does the acoustic nerve run down that far?" and the powerfully sung, "Frankie SINATRA" in the final opera scene. Not funny written here but put in their correct places in the film they will have you bursting with laughter.

A simple formula, but a great movie that really works.

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!

Danny Kaye plays night club entertainer Buzzy Bellew who gets killed and appears as a ghost to his bookworm brother Edwin Dingle (also Danny Kaye).And that means lots of laughs when everybody thinks Edwin is Buzzy.Danny Kaye (1913-1987) was a brilliant comedian.In Wonder Man (1945) he shows us all how good he really was.This movie is filled with scenes that make you crack up.Like the opera scene in the end.I just couldn't stop laughing. And let's not forget the lovely ladies Vera-Ellen and Virginia Mayo.Everything just works in this movie.Watch this flick and laugh your lungs out!