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On the Double
American GI Ernie Williams, admittedly weak-kneed, has an uncanny resemblance to British Colonel MacKenzie. Williams, also a master of imitation and disguise, is asked to impersonate the Colonel, ostensibly to allow the Colonel to make a secret trip East. What Williams is not told is that the Colonel has recently been a target of assassins. After the Colonel's plane goes down, the plan changes and Williams maintains the disguise to confuse the Nazis about D-Day.
| Release : | 1961 |
| Rating : | 6.4 |
| Studio : | Paramount, Dena Productions, |
| Crew : | Art Direction, Art Direction, |
| Cast : | Danny Kaye Dana Wynter Wilfrid Hyde-White Margaret Rutherford Diana Dors |
| Genre : | Comedy War |
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Cast List
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Reviews
Strong and Moving!
Just so...so bad
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
I was 14 and saw On The Double when it first came out and was impressed then by the regal beauty of Dana Wynter who was always playing Lady this or Mrs. that and always in the upper class of the United Kingdom. I also thought Danny Kaye was pretty funny.On The Double gives Kaye his usual stage for patter and mimicry. The mimicry is most important because Kaye is asked to impersonate a one eyed British general who he bares a resemblance to. Kaye does other imitations like Churchill and Hitler. I'll bet could have come up with a mean FDR had he the occasion to. The one he doesn't fool is the general's wife played by Dana Wynter who has put up with his frequent infidelities. Something about Kaye does touch her. It's always that we with movie comedians who play nebbishes, but funny nebbishes whether it's Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis or Danny Kaye.Wynter gets into the spirit of things and at a very posh society party in an incident precipitated by Margaret Rutherford turns into an old fashioned food fight that John Belushi couldn't have handled better.Britain's Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors is also on hand as the shapely sergeant that the general is having his current fling with. On The Double is not the best of Danny Kaye films, yet his legion of fans will find it suits their taste admirably.
Admittedly, I am a big Danny Kaye fan, and I've been fortunate enough to have seen this film several times on late night TV. If you like Danny Kaye, this film and "The Court Jester" would both be must sees. Dana Winter, who plays the role of Col. Mckenzie's wife, is perfect for her role in "On the Double", and the rest of the supporting cast is excellent as well. Kaye is at his best, and you will never hear the phrase "the usual" again without thinking of this film. The party scene where Kaye attempts to perform a Highland fling is outstanding. Kaye is multi-talented, and this film shows that very well. Wish it was available for purchase, either on DVD or video. If anyone knows of how to obtain an copy of this film, please let me know.
I can remember seeing this film on T.V.and it made me laugh,the type of film i look for.I am not sure why i did not record it.It does not seem that long ago,but my memory could be playing tricks.Perhaps the T.V.showing was before i owned a video in the 1980s.However,there are plenty of films which have been shown several times.Why not this one?
I've been a big Danny Kaye fan from an early age. I've seen all of his movies, minus one or two. But I will have to say with all honesty, that "Double Time" is without a doubt, one of his best works. I was lucky enough to catch this one on the AMC channel (American Movie Classics) and to this day is the funniest movie I have ever seen. I laughed until I couldn't even see the T.V. screen through the tears. But unfortunately, this one is not available on video, which I really don't understand because it was one of his later films. (1960's) I do wish someone, somehow would make ths happen.
