A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Synopsis: A bump on the head sends Hank Martin, 1912 mechanic, to Arthurian Britain, 528 A.D., where he is befriended by Sir Sagramore le Desirous and gains power by judicious use of technology. He and Alisande, the King's niece, fall in love at first sight, which draws unwelcome attention from her fiancée Sir Lancelot; but worse trouble befalls when Hank meddles in the kingdom's politics.
Director(s): Tay Garnett
Production: Paramount Pictures
 
IMDB:
6.7
Rotten Tomatoes:
57%
NOT RATED
Year:
1949
106 min
454 Views


There you are.

Say, has, uh, this castle

always had four turrets?

Always.

Four turrets.

That doesn't seem right.

if you hurry, sir, you'll still

be in time to catch the last tour.

Thanks.

The room you are now

standing in...

is an ancient banquet hall.

And this table,

ladies and gentlemen,

is said to be the famed

Round Table...

used by King Arthur.

Many of the restored shields of the Knights of

the Round Table can be seen on these standards.

Sir Bedivere.

Sir

- [Man ] Sir Bors de Ganis,

Sir-

Sir Lancelot of the Lake.

if you don't mind!

Not at all.

Go right ahead.

Now, ladies and gentlemen,

if youll kindly follow me.

Over here,

ladies and gentlemen,

we have the shields

of Sir Galahad,

Sir Dalliance,

and Sir Sagramore

le Desirous.

Good old Saggy.

And over here,

ladies and gentlemen,

a remarkably preserved

portrait.

Lady Alisande la Carteloise.

[Woman ] Wasnt she lovely?

Lovely indeed, madam,

She was renowned In legend as

King Arthurs favorite niece,

Over here, ladies and

gentlemen- Pardon me-

we have a hauberk dating

from the sixth century...

said to have been worn

by Sir Logris of Astolat.

Kindly notice the round hole

through the breastplate,

undoubtedly caused by an

iron-tipped arrow of the period.

Mm-mmm.

I mean

- Well, you see, that happens to be a bullet hole.

impossible!

Firearms weren't invented...

until the 15th century.

[ Chuckles ]

Oh, come now. Perhaps the

gentleman saw the bullet fired.

Perhaps the gentleman

was there.

Matter of fact, I was.

Undoubtedly caused by an

iron-tipped arrow of the period.

Well, uh, that concludes the

tour, ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of the orphanage and Lord

Pendragon, I hope youve enjoyed it.

This way out, please. Thank

you. it's been most interesting.

I beg your pardon, sir. Lord

Pendragon would like to see you. Hmm?

Well, that's

very nice of him.

Just as I remember her.

[ Clears Throat] This way, sir. Yes.

"Just as I remember her"?

And she dead

these 1300 years.

[Knocking]

Come in, come in.

[ Sneezes ]

And shut the door.

That's the worst of these confounded castles

- very picturesque and all that,

but the wind whistles through

like a howling gale.

This is the American

gentleman, Your Lordship.

Im quite aware

it's the American gentleman.

You may go, Richards.

But, Your Lordship-

Go, go. Scat.

Now, no tricks, young man.

I warn you, I boxed for

Cambridge until my arm-

[ Sneezes ]

Now, what's all this I hear

about your creating a disturbance?

You don't look balmy.

I assure you, Your

Lordship, Im perfectly sane.

Well, stop staring at me

as if I were a ghost.

Have we met before?

Here.

Well, no, not exactly. What

do you mean, not exactly?

Either weve met before or we

haven't. it's difficult to explain.

I- i feel like I know you.

I know this castle...

and the girl in the painting downstairs

- Lady Alisande.

I know her too.

Wait, wait. Don't ring.

I wanna show you something.

Take a look at this.

What is it?

it's a gold amulet,

just like the one

on the girl in the painting.

Yes, yes, of course.

Of course.

A remarkable duplicate.

it's not a duplicate, sir.

Where did you get it?

She gave it to me.

Young man, you're either

a liar or a lunatic,

and Im not gonna sit here-

Here.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

Ive been wanting to get this

off my chest for a long time.

Im not keeping you from

anything, am I? [ Mutters ]

My name is Martin.

Hank Martin.

I was born in Hartford,

Connecticut, U.S.A.

Im a blacksmith, and my father

was a blacksmith before me.

Or I was a blacksmith until few years

ago, when these automobiles came along,

Boy, It sure is

powerful-looking, Boy, it sure is.

Go ahead and touch it. I dare

you. [ Engine Sputtering ]

You do it.

I asked you first.

Yeah, he asked you first.

[ Backfires ] [ Screams ] Look out!

Did you fix it, Hank?

I fixed it, all right.

The operation was a success,

but the patient died.

Well, we'll give her

another whirl, huh?

You kids in no hurry?

No, not me.

What do you suppose

makes it go?

- I know. There's a dragon in it.

- A what?

A dragon, just like in King Arthur,

that spits and shoots out fire.

- Oh, you're daffy.

- I am not, am I, Hank?

I think she's got something there.

What we need is a little dragon bait.

[ Engine Sputtering ]

Say, it's taken a hold.

Oh, there's a dragon

in there, all right.

[ Backfires,

Engine Stops ]

I think it's a reluctant dragon.

We'll let it cool off a while.

Does that book tell you

how to fix automobiles, Hank?

This book tells you

how to fix everything.

At least that's what the

fellow said that sold it to me.

Wow! Look at that.

What is that thing, Hank?

Yeah, what is it, Hank?

That's a phonograph.

That'll bring a 20-piece

band smack into your parlor.

Drums and everything?

Sure. Drums and everything.

There's an electric light bulb,

a magic lantern and a motorcycle.

Wow! Look at that!

You mean we're gonna have

all those things someday, Hank?

Son, every one of those things in that

book, every item, we got 'em right now.

You know why we got 'em? Because folks

who other folks thought were crazy...

went out and invented 'em.

That's how things get done-

by folks who shoot high,

who just won't admit

they're licked.

Oh, there's nothin'

to be ashamed of

if you stub your toe

on the moon

When a dream's

at the top of the sky

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Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1875) and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), the latter often called "The Great American Novel". Twain was raised in Hannibal, Missouri, which later provided the setting for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He served an apprenticeship with a printer and then worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to the newspaper of his older brother Orion Clemens. He later became a riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion in Nevada. He referred humorously to his lack of success at mining, turning to journalism for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise. His humorous story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", was published in 1865, based on a story that he heard at Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California where he had spent some time as a miner. The short story brought international attention and was even translated into French. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned praise from critics and peers, and he was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty. Twain earned a great deal of money from his writings and lectures, but he invested in ventures that lost most of it—notably the Paige Compositor, a mechanical typesetter that failed because of its complexity and imprecision. He filed for bankruptcy in the wake of these financial setbacks, but he eventually overcame his financial troubles with the help of Henry Huttleston Rogers. He chose to pay all his pre-bankruptcy creditors in full, even after he had no legal responsibility to do so. Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley's Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well; he died the day after the comet returned. He was lauded as the "greatest humorist this country has produced", and William Faulkner called him "the father of American literature". more…

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