It is fortunate that this musical doesn't have too many songs, because they are generally quite forgettable if not outright boring.
Visually, however, this is a great Technicolor film full of interesting views and almost but not quite campy colors. I ignored the music and enjoyed the film for its visual gaiety and its take on the plot.
There are many films based on Mark Twain's novel, and a general feature is that they replace Twain's original framing in late 19th century Connecticut by a different one more suitable for film. The present film stays close to the original framing but develops it further and in a different direction:
Hank, the Connecticut Yankee, is a blacksmith like in the novel. He arrives as a tourist at Pendragon Castle rather than Warwick Castle. Unlike in the real world, Pendragon Castle is in good condition and has preserved a lot of artifacts from King Arthur's court, which of course in the novel and this film is real 6th century history rather than fictional. Hank disturbs a guided tour by knowing too much, then meets the castle's owner and tells him, rather than Mark Twain, his story.
Since Hank is played by Bing Crosby, he is smooth and polished, quite unlike the electrician Hank in the early talkie
A Connecticut Yankee (1931), who was played by Will Rogers. Also, he doesn't modernize Arthurian Britain so much as he uses a few modern inventions or practices for his own advantage. As a result, this is little more than another knight and sword film, though with a few nice twists and the time travel framing.
Overall, this is a nice family film but nothing special. If they hadn't made it a musical and had cast a comic or character actor for Hank, this could easily have been a 7, perhaps even an 8.
