Danny Kaye 10 Royal Command Rehearsal (1948)

Comedian / film star / singer Danny Kaye in rehearsal for Royal Command Performance 1948 - London Palladium. Unedited footage / cuts / rushes / out takes.



M/S of Danny Kaye just after making his entrance onto the stage, with jazz band on stage playing a swing tune. Looks like rehearsal - no applause, no stage make-up. Danny gives the band the signal to stop and says "Good evening ladies and gentleman and welcome to the casino...". He gets the band to lean one way and the other - laughter from the few people in the audience.



Danny runs through 'Ballin' The Jack' - not a full-on version. Fascinating to see him in rehearsal like this. He smiles at people watching (unseen). Excellent footage of Danny in a more subdued mood than usual (would also make great candid stills). During the song he asks if the lights are just for the photography and says to someone in the audience "You didn't make me laugh!". At the end of the song he gets a round of applause from the unseen people watching, and acknowledges it modestly.



He then runs through a bit of his song 'Deenah' ('Dinah'), saying he hopes he can remember the words for the (spoken) introduction by tonight. He sings the main part of the song and fast scat section. Extreme C/U of Danny singing 'Maybe It's Because I'm A Londoner'. He runs through introduction to 'Underneath The Arches' and starts to sing the song. He just 'la-la-las' some of it, not knowing the words. Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen come on, singing the song, to applause from those gathered. Bud says "Hey, Ginger!", beckoning Danny to join them, which he does. They finish the song together. Danny gives both men a kiss on the cheek at the end - ah!



Note: fantastic footage of a top performer in rehearsal - we are so lucky to have this footage in our collection!! The 'you didn't make me laugh' bit probably refers to Danny's obsession with making the most stoney-faced person in an audience laugh at him. See other records for actual performance and 'Danny Kaye 6' for more rehearsal.
FILM ID:2749.05

A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT'S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES. http://www.britishpathe.tv/

FOR LICENSING ENQUIRIES VISIT http://www.britishpathe.com/

British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website. https://www.britishpathe.com/