Wonder Man

Released Jun 8, 1945

1h 38m

Musical

Comedy

List

100%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

84%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

Edwin Dingle (Danny Kaye) and Buzzy Bellew (also Kaye) are twin siblings with opposite personalities. Hip performer Buzzy becomes a marked man after he catches big-shot gangster "Ten Grand" Jackson (Steve Cochran) in the act of killing an enemy. Jackson finds Buzzy and shuts him up for good -- or so he thinks. But Buzzy comes back in spirit form to inhabit the body of his introverted brother, and before long, Edwin is hunting down Jackson and puzzling everyone with his new persona.

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Wolcott Gibbs

New Yorker

Given adequate material, Danny Kaye is one of the most versatile and generally satisfactory comedians on the screen. This he gets in Wonder Man.

Oct 15, 2021

Full Review

James Agee

TIME Magazine

Besides being a brilliant comic entertainer, Kaye has considerable talent as a straight actor. Here he gets his first good chance to display this talent, playing two deep-metropolitan types.

Feb 28, 2018

Full Review

Noel Murray

The Dissolve

The premise is a thin thread on which the Goldwyn creative team hang big numbers, often barely related to the plot.

Rated: 2.5/5

Dec 16, 2013

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

An eye-catching colorful musical comedy.

Rated: B

Apr 6, 2015

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

In this quintessential Danny Kaye vehicle, which won the special effects Oscar, the star plays the first of his several screen twins, a shy intellectual and a club entertainer.

Rated: B

Jun 30, 2011

Full Review

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rated: 4/5

Mar 26, 2004

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josepf c

It's in the top 2 best movies of all Time🤘🎞🎥 . nobody can outclass ms.vera👍👍✨💃

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not very many people my age even know about Danny Kaye but I wish more did. This is my favorite movie of all time! I just re watched this movie and remembered how good it is. Comedy at its best!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

My Danny Kaye favorite.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Lavish Technicolor musical comedy features Danny Kaye in one of his best roles as twin brothers; Vera Ellen makes her film debut dancing to the Oscar-nominated song "So in Love."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Danny Kaye plays a set of twins, a bookworm and a nightclub comic. When Buzzy Belew, the comic is murdered by the mob, his spirit goes to see his brother Edwin dingle... Brilliant effects for the time and great fun to watch--Danny Kaye's second film with Sam Goldwyn gave his usual lavish production and gave Kaye two leading ladies. How lucky can a guy get working for the first time with both Vera-Ellen and Virginia Mayo. One love for each of his twin personas... Twin Spin!!

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Has its moments but mostly quite silly. The central plot was fairly ridiculous to start off with: man dies, comes back as a ghost and occasionally enters the body of his twin brother. Throw in villains trying to kill him, a fiance and a girfriend and it is very farcical. It doesn't end there, however. Some of Danny Kaye's antics are incredibly silly. He has his moments though. Probably the best reasons to watch this are Virginia Mayo, especially, and Vera-Ellen. Both are gorgeous and light up the screen. Mayo provides a great oasis of sanity in the middle of Kaye's hijinks. For a much better Danny Kaye-Virginia Mayo collaboration, see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty instead.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

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H. Bruce Humberstone

Director

Danny Kaye

Edwin Dingle

Virginia Mayo

Ellen Shanley

Vera-Ellen

Midge Mallon

Donald Woods

Monte Rossen

S.Z. Sakall

Schmidt

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Synopsis

Edwin Dingle (Danny Kaye) and Buzzy Bellew (also Kaye) are twin siblings with opposite personalities. Hip performer Buzzy becomes a marked man after he catches big-shot gangster "Ten Grand" Jackson (Steve Cochran) in the act of killing an enemy. Jackson finds Buzzy and shuts him up for good -- or so he thinks. But Buzzy comes back in spirit form to inhabit the body of his introverted brother, and before long, Edwin is hunting down Jackson and puzzling everyone with his new persona.

Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
Screenwriter: Don Hartman, Melville Shavelson, Philip Rapp
Distributor: Classic Collection, Sultan Video, Home Box Office Home Video, RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co: Samuel Goldwyn Company
Genre: Musical, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 8, 1945, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 31, 2020
Runtime: 1h 38m

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