Rising to fame as the same time as MGM's strawberry blonde boy, Van Johnson, Danny Kaye came from Broadway where he captivated audiences with his tongue-twisting talents and boy next door looks. Like many comics, here he gets to play a dual character-a murdered nightclub performer and his book worm twin who poses as his brother while the ghost on occasion enters his body like Patrick Swayze did to Whoopie Goldberg in "Ghost". A fun musical fantasy with a lot of silly moments and some well choreographed (if unremarkable) musical numbers, "Wonder Man" features a huge cast of character performers and two sexy leading ladies: Vera-Ellen and Virginia Mayo who show a lot of leg and wear some beautiful costumes. The songs by Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine, are amusing, but not as hysterical as some of her other works.
Filmed in breathtaking Technicolor, adding in some special effects (pretty clever for its time) and a rather hyper performance by Kaye, the film is delightful old-fashioned fun. While a little bit of Kaye can go a long way (he tends to ham a bit too much), you can't help but be amused by him most of the time. Natalie Schafer is amusing as an obnoxious matron who balks at being asked to "Shush!" in a library ("After all, I pay my taxes!", she bellows), with S.Z. Sakall, Otto Kruger, Allen Jenkins and Edward Brophy each showing what made the character actors of the 30's and 40's sometimes even more amusing than the leading players. Toss in the tea-totaling Jack Norton in his usual drunken stupor and the result is the type of movie that can't be made today.
Filmed in breathtaking Technicolor, adding in some special effects (pretty clever for its time) and a rather hyper performance by Kaye, the film is delightful old-fashioned fun. While a little bit of Kaye can go a long way (he tends to ham a bit too much), you can't help but be amused by him most of the time. Natalie Schafer is amusing as an obnoxious matron who balks at being asked to "Shush!" in a library ("After all, I pay my taxes!", she bellows), with S.Z. Sakall, Otto Kruger, Allen Jenkins and Edward Brophy each showing what made the character actors of the 30's and 40's sometimes even more amusing than the leading players. Toss in the tea-totaling Jack Norton in his usual drunken stupor and the result is the type of movie that can't be made today.