A fictional account of the life of storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. First, if you haven't read his stories, then you probably won't appreciate this movie as much as you should. It's a perfect excuse to read them with your family, then watch the movie. Second, if you're expecting a sophisticated, adult-oriented story, you will be disappointed; however, the morals to Hans' stories, as well as the movie's lessons, are very worthy. That said, the musical numbers are an absolute delight -- Danny Kaye never fails to deliver a wonderful performance, and where else can you learn to sing stories, instead of tell them, for your children? -- and the ballets are great for this venue. We even get to see the movie's choreographer dance in one of the numbers. This movie was nominated for several Oscars. It deserved those nominations. Don't skip this one, especially if you have small children.
Add a Review
-
debra_vs21 October 2005
-
Every single biopic of a creative artist tells the same story, whether it's true or not: the Philistine World, or some part thereof, rejects the artist, and fails to see his greatness; but later on, perhaps during his lifetime, perhaps not, it sees the error of its ways. That happens here. Hans Christian Andersen is a village cobbler whose compulsive inventiveness is little thought of until he makes good in Copenhagen, after which...
But there's much more going on.
There's no doubt that Andersen was a great artist, in some sense. `The Ugly Duckling' and `The Emperor's New Clothes' are two of the greatest short stories - fables, folktales - all of these - ever composed. But he had his limitations. There were many kinds of stories he just couldn't write. His fertile talent for anthropomorphising was often a millstone. In many respects he seems to have been a childish and naive man. But get this: all of these limitations make it onto the screen. Both the story and Danny Kaye's performance (a great performance) make Andersen into a human being who is NOT the greatest storyteller since Shakespeare, but who can be admired for what he is.
The main story isn't the `unrecognised genius' bit: it's a story of unrequited love. While in Copenhagen Andersen spends most of his time banging his head against the wall over an unattainable ballerina, whose interest in him is, as they say, purely professional. He manages to be quite cruel to a close friend in the process, right up to the point where it's unclear that a reconciliation is possible. (Indeed, it's unclear whether or not one occurs.) When he realises what a fool he's been he just trudges back, defeated, to his village. And it's here we have the obligatory scene where the villagers realise how great he was after all, mainly by singing the highly memorable refrains of the movie's songs, one after the other. Well, the film needed some ending. I'm inclined to forgive this one.
There's also a lengthy Little Mermaid ballet - seven minutes long? more? - danced in its entirety. (We see a LOT of the ballerina's craft in Copenhagen.) This sort of thing wasn't too unusual in the 1950s but it's a genuine gamble in context - and one that I think pays off. By the time the ballet appears the cheery story of an eccentric village storyteller had become surprisingly dark. Vidor, it seems, would rather risk having people leave the cinema than insult those who remain. Good for him. I can't claim that this film works in every respect, and perhaps you won't like it, but I'm sure you won't feel cheated by it. -
hitchcockthelegend4 March 2008So the opening written words say to us the very thing that many across the movie forums have failed to spot, namely that they wasn't going for first tier autobiographical on this! just a celebration of the name and his work is all.
Who better to bring the great Dane to the screen than the ebullient Danny Kaye, his exuberant approach to the topic befits the glorious colour that positively sparkles in every frame of Charles Vidor's film.
The story tracks the Cobbler Andersen as he leaves his hometown of Odense to seek a new life in the beautiful city of Copenhagen. It is here that he becomes known for his stories that bring about much joy to the children of Denmark - and here that he writes his glorious ballet version of The Little Mermaid. He gets into scrapes, he falls for a pretty girl, and most of all he discovers his vocation in life, this is indeed a delightful fairytale in itself.
Sit back and enjoy The Emperor's New Clothes, Wonderful Copenhagen, Thumberlina and The Ugly Duckling, and then fall silenct for the 15 minute showing of The Little Mermaid in all its balletic glory. Hans Christian Andersen is a smashingly buoyant film, one that may come wrapped up in treacle for some folk, but for those of us with a sweet filmic tooth then the pleasures are there to be had. 8/10 -
TheVid21 May 2003This rather sophisticated musical appears to have been inspired by the visionary and dreamy Powell/Pressburger classic THE RED SHOES. It's as much a stylized romance as it is a kiddie picture, with Kaye refraining from indulging in the manic twittering he's generally known for, and becoming a rather poignant protagonist. That's not to say the whole family can't get something out of it, but the script makes no small point of creating sexual tension within it's romantic framework. Goldwyn wanted to make this picture for years, but couldn't find a script to satisfy him. Moss Hart finally came up with this one, and it's a surprisingly multi-dimensional one. Frank Loesser's music and lyrics are wonderful.
-
lasttimeisaw29 July 2017There is a simplistic naiveté in this fictive family fare telling the story of Danish fairy-tale fabricator H.C. Andersen (Kaye) that lends the movie a tenderness even for the most hard-boiled souls. Charles Vidor's picture gallantly beefs up hooky singing snippets (composed and lyricized by Broadway songwriter Frank Loesser) spawned out of Andersen's world-famous stories (The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina and The Emperor's New Clothes) with a main through-line of Andersen's infatuation of a prima ballerina Doro (Jeanmaire), which begets the genesis of The Little Mermaid and then is transmuted into a spectacular ballet choreographed by Parisian danseur Roland Petit, grafted onto the climax.
In its not-so-complicated story-line, Andersen is dumb-ed down as a happy-go-lucky cobbler, and saddled with a sidekick, the orphan boy Peter (Walsh) who becomes increasingly protective towards him as he fears that Andersen is over the moon with an ungrounded idea that he is the knight-in-shining-armor for Doro, who is married to Niels (Granger, even so bratty and uppity), the troupe's stroppy choreographer. Their marriage comes off as habitually vacillating between lovey- dovey show-off and fiery squabbles, but is far from on the rocks as Andersen postulates, Peter witnesses and understands Doro and Niels' folie-à-deux, but fails to disabuse a hot-to-trot Andersen of his wishful thinking, so a slipshod break-up ensues, the only time Andersen appears as a heartless bastard, although in the end the hatchet will be buried in an equally rash fashion because no one should set feet in between Peter and Andersen, hooray!
Danny Kaye has a soothingly mellow voice like a balm to a jaded ear, although his earnest performance is not a showstopper but his congenial amenity is a boon to its family audience, but indeed the money shot here are the ballet sequences, melded with cinematic bravura (its ravishing setting and montage dexterity) without an overarching pomposity and indulgence à la Powell & Pressburger's THE TALES OF HOFFMANN and interlaced with a basic narrative structure, they are condensed to light up the screen within a none-too-wearing allotted screen-time which can at once impress rubberneckers and intrigue balletomanes, for this reason alone, it has a decisive edge over other screen commodities touting the high-brow one-upmanship! -
"Once upon a time there lived in Denmark a great storyteller named Hans Christian Andersen. This is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about the great spinner of fairy tales." This is a roundabout way of saying that this story of Andersen is NOT actually a biography and any resemblance to him and his life is strictly coincidental!! For folks like me who are retired history teachers, this is a very bad way to begin a story.
The story is very much a mixed bag. On the positive side, Danny Kaye is incredibly charming in the title role, at least most of the time. The film also is beautifully made...and looks marvelous. A few of the songs are delights. But what keeps this film from being better is the story....and Andersen's creepy fixation on a young ballerina. This actually isn't too far fetched for the real Andersen...as he had a habit of becoming infatuated with unattainable women. But this portion of the film ALSO brought with it ballet...lots and lots and lots of ballet. In fact, a very large chunk of the film consists of ballet...which is just fine if you like ballet AND thought the film was mostly about ballet. However, for me, it just frustrated the heck out of me...and eventually I found myself fast forwarding through this...it was just something I didn't enjoy and it seemed very much out of place in a family film. I am sure a lot of kids loved parts of the film...and practically died as they had to sit through all that dancing! -
TheLittleSongbird11 February 2009This film is fantastic. The problem is hardly anybody has seen it, and anybody who hasn't is seriously missing out. It features Danny Kaye in his element here, as the fairy-tale author, and a superb score by Frank Loesser. All the songs are moving or humorous, and I recognised all of the fairy tales. I was moved by Ugly Duckling, laughing with delight at Thumbelina, and swaying in time to the music of Copenhagen, which has never looked that beautiful. The supporting stars are solid, most notably from Joey Walsh, Farley Granger and Jeanmaire. Speaking of the ballet sequences, I disagree that they were plodding. It may have been 20 minutes long, but the little mermaid, for me was the highlight of the film, and perfectly set to the music of Lizst. Hearing Schubert's Rosamunde was a delight, and when I heard the music to Anderson's dream(him trying to get Doro away from Nils), I genuinely felt I was watching a Wagnerian opera, with its devilish imagery and Flying Dutchman -like incidental music. Danny Kaye was fantastic in the song numbers, and although his voice isn't large, he has phenomenal breath control that is almost as good as that of the opera singer Tito Schipa. Watch this musical, which is perfectly-paced. If you don't see this, you're seriously missing out! 10/10. Bethany Cox
-
Doylenf12 April 2010Artistically, "Hans Christian Anderson" is wonderful to look at with beautifully designed sets and costumes and a sprightly score that uses his fairy-tales for inspiration. And there's no doubt that DANNY KAYE was highly suited to this kind of material with its major appeal for children.
But there are drawbacks--the biggest one being the length which drags in spots and is uneven throughout. The performances are fine and almost make you forget that the slow spots are there. FARLEY GRANGER is fine as the ballet director dealing with a temperamental ballet star JEANMAIRE. However, it doesn't help that the climactic LITTLE MERMAID ballet is dull and much too long.
The score saves the picture from being too sappy at times, with numbers like "Thumbalina," "The Ugly Duckling" and "Wonderful Copenhagen" that brighten the story with clever lyrics and sprightly tunes.
Kaye is less frenetic than usual as Hans and overall it's one of his best performances. Children should love it. -
arosedec16 September 2003This was the movie that caused me to fall in love with Danny Kaye. I still love watching this movie more than 20 years after I saw it for the first time on television. I love his gentle nature with the children, in particular the little girl he sings "Thumbalina" to. Fabricated or not, this is one of his best films showing the true diversity of an incredibly talented man. Danny Kaye was surely one of the last of a dying Hollywood breed.
-
lee_eisenberg3 April 2011Yesterday would have been Hans Christian Andersen's 206th birthday, and I just watched Charles Vidor's musical about the famous Danish storyteller. The movie of course is not a biography but rather a fairy tale interpretation of the man's life. Danny Kaye plays Andersen, telling stories to schoolchildren while the teacher gets annoyed. Forced out of Odense, Andersen moves to Copenhagen, where he gets a job with the Royal Danish Ballet and falls for one of the dancers.
I saw "Hans Christian Andersen" when I was about six, but only interpreted the scene where he turns his thumb into Thumbelina. Now that I'm old enough to understand the whole thing, I can say that the line "sometimes a king is just a queen with a moustache" sounds as if it refers to a man in drag! Anyway, it's the sort of movie that might make you say the sorts of things that the characters on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" say, but for the most part it's pretty enjoyable. Also starring Farley Granger (who died a few days ago) and Zizi Jeanmaire. -
thejcowboy2229 May 2018Before we get started I was always captivated by a spinner of yarns, a great storyteller who has you hanging on every word as your mind is fixated in their world. I remember going to sleep listening to the radio with the help of Jean Shepard and his stories growing up in America's mid west during the early part of the twentieth century. Bill Cosby with his take on urban life in Philadelphia with his unique cast of characters. Or the deep country humor from Jerry Clower doing his southern fried narratives will transport you to the needle in the hayloft before the end of the story. Most of these individuals have checkered pasts and their character can be questioned. I 'm only basing them on their storytelling. Hans Christian Anderson Denmark's storybook king of children's fables is no different as his character was in questioned through out his lonely life. The Producers at Samuel Goldwyn and Screenwriter Moss Hart took this master of the fairy tales and spun this movie into a fictitious story telling cobbler who allures the young impressionable Danish children away from the school master. Time and time again Hans the cobbler (Danny Kaye) would keep the children engaged in his stories about naked emperors while the Schoolmaster would threatened to leave the town if the cobbler doesn't stop his antics in disrupting precious school time. Some viewers would analyze this as a form of pedophilia or even a gay sub-text. Regardless I found these scenes regarding the children very tasteful throughout the picture. Peter, Han's assistant played by Joseph Walsh convinces Hans to trek out to Copenhagen and take some time off when in reality the townspeople are infuriated with his disruptions with their children. Hans takes Peter's impromptu advice and walks alone along the countryside. Peter joins Hans with his entire cobbler wagon in tow figuring they have to support themselves while visiting the "City of Towers". Hans and Peter take the boat ride over as the crew sings "Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen". Upon their arrival Hans performs his formal introduction to the merchants but Hans makes a fatal mistake buy standing on a sacred statue and is arrested. Peter escapes the law and runs for cover in a theater storage room where he overhears two ballet personnel argue about ballet shoes as their prima ballerina is complaining about comfort. Peter comes forward and offers Han as an expert cobbler. The Ballet manager releases Hans from Jail as Hans is employed by the royal ballet company as the ballerina's personal cobbler. Hans gets more than he bargains for as he is smitten with the ballerina's loveliness. The Ballerina is played by the very French Jeanmaire. There's one problem Doro our ballerina is married to the hostile and volatile director of the ballet played perfectly by Farley Granger. The extreme range of the couple will throw you as one minute there at each others throats and the next they are billing and cooing to each other like nothing ever happened. Jeanmaire carries herself as the lovely Dora who plays with Han's emotions. Hans is outraged which leads him to write the story of The Little Mermaid and our story continues. There is also a little bit of Walter Mitty in this film as Hans dreams of his wedding day to the lovely Dora in a well put together sketch. The appeal of this movie is the life lessons Hans shares with the children as each story is accompanied by song. One huge flaw is the long Ballet scene at the end of the movie which to this day doesn't hold my attention. I had nothing but plaudits for song writer and musical director Frank Loesser. The lyrics have a lesson or moral within the narrative verbally orchestrated by the shear genius of the master Danny Kaye. The thing I find most interesting about Danny Kaye movies is the tongue twisting lyrics and songs that flow so naturally out of his mouth. Thumbalina , The Ugly Duckling songs are poignant and should be shared with current generations. The homely skinny Daniel Kaminsky, the kid from Brooklyn becomes a very fine swan indeed!
-
Whoever reviewed this film for Maltin's Guide (I wish they'd indicate who the reviewer is by initials or something. It'd make the book more useful) does not share my tastes. I personally don't care that it bears no relation to Andersen's life. They admit it up front. Judge a film by itself, not on it's supposed relation to reality! Given Andersen's real life and his moody, pessemistic nature, I doubt being more accurate would have been a good thing. The score is beautiful, the sets and Costumes are great and Danny Kaye was wonderful! I haven't seen the movie for a couple of years and I stll remember most of the score! Granted, it's not one of the all-time greats, but it's better than the Maltin review implies. A worthy effort. Recommended.
-
beresfordjd24 December 2016I saw this as a child and it enchanted me and it stayed with me for years. How disappointed was I as a grown up that it had dated so badly. It was annoying and trite and made me a little uncomfortable. Danny Kaye was a favourite of mine many years ago with his Mitty movie and The Court Jester ( the pellet with the poison routine still cracks me up). He was rather subdued in this film and I now find the songs I loved too cheesy and very much fifties. The ballet sequences are terrifically staged and still work brilliantly. Who knew Zizi Jeanmaire was the person in Peter Sarsted's song?! Perhaps it still works for children even now but not for adults. The songs I remember were a staple of fifties radio and are a part of my childhood and speak of a much more innocent time.
-
BA_Harrison27 November 2020This is a fairytale about a spinner of fairytales, a fanciful telling of how cobbler Hans Christian Andersen leaves his home village, heads for Copenhagen, falls for a pretty ballerina, and becomes a writer. Andersen, as played by Danny Kaye, is as flawless a character as there has ever been, with not a bad bone in his body and never a wicked thought, which is a good thing given how much he likes to hang around small kids (lovingly patting their tushies) and stalk married women: in this day and age, his name would be on a register and he'd have a restraining order against him.
This being a wholesome '50s family film, however, it's all about as innocent and as sweet as can be, so saccharine that watching it could give you diabetes, or at least make you feel a bit nauseous at times. Andersen is a happy-go-lucky, loveable type - quite unlike his real-life counterpart, apparently - and his unstoppable chirpiness and tendency to break out into song at the drop of a hat all gets a bit much at times. The film is not only twee to extremes, but it's also rather overlong thanks to several extended ballet scenes that will probably outwear their welcome for all but serious dance fanatics. Ballerina Doro (Zizi Jeanmaire) is pretty and fit, and impresses with her ability to traverse a stage on tippy-toes, but as easy on the eyes as she is, the dancing babe proves a tad boring after a while.
Thankfully, the songs throughout the film are pretty good for this kind of thing, and I guarantee you'll be familiar with at least a couple of them even if you've never seen the film before: The King Is In The Altogether, Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen, Inchworm, Thumbelina, There Once Was An Ugly Duckling - all genuine earworms!
5/10 - good songs, many of which I remember fondly from my childhood, but not enough for me to wholeheartedly recommend the movie. I might have bumped up the score a tad if they'd shown the sickly bald kid Lars at the end, now with a full head of hair - can't believe that they missed that trick. -
Ripshin3 April 2004Beautiful cinematography and set design. Plodding ballet sequences. Great songs. Blatant homo-erotic sub-tones....exactly why is Peter doing that scene without his shirt on? Peter jealous of Hans? The feeling is in every scene between the two leads. Intended? Check out the same situation in director Charles Vidor's "Gilda."
Anyway, nothing's better than Technicolor.
And, since IMDb requires ten lines for a review (who needs to listen to pontification?), let's see what else I can say. How many kids do you think sat still during that long ballet interlude? The last half of the film drags considerably. I agree with a previous comment...."Inch Worm" is the best song, and it didn't even make it into the original theatrical trailer. -
ma-cortes30 December 2021An attractive and enjoyable story about an unfortunate but sympathetic cobbler who turns out to be the celebrated Hans Christian Andersen . The opening scene of the movie describes it best : "Once upon a time there lived in Denmark a great storyteller named Hans Christian Andersen. This is not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about the great spinner of fairy tales" . This is a fictituous biography of the famous Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen who goes to Copenhagen along with a little boy , there they spend time and lot of adventures , featuring several of his stories , such as : Thumbelina , the Ugly Duckling, the King's New Clothes, and the Little Mermaid. The glorious story of the greatest storyteller of them all !
Musical comedy with some puerility , romance , emotion , sensibility , a lot of songs and spectacular musical numbers . Danny Kaye is superb as the famous storyteller , though resulting to be a completely fabricated fiction . Determined that he was going to make a film about the known storyteller , Samuel Goldwyn went through every conceivable permutation of filmmaker as William Wyler , stars as Gary Cooper and scripts : about 15 of'em , before ending up with this garish epic musical. The film is a Danny Kaye recital , he sings , dances , stooges , and puts faces and grimaces . It's a pretty amusing musical comedy with the master comedy actor and it displays much choreography , catching songs and musical spectacle . Although , here stands out the gorgeous Roland Petit's Ballets and the wonderful interpretation by the great ballerina Jeanmaire , she is really knock-out, specially at a ballet performance of "The Little Mermaid¨. Frank Loesser composed some charming songs for this glossy oversweet musical , such as : ¨Thumbelina¨ , ¨The Ugly Duckling¨ , ¨Anywhere I Wander¨ , ¨The Inch Worm¨ , ¨Wonderful Copenhagen¨ , ¨No Two People¨. And accompanying a colorful and brilliant cinematography in Technicolor by Harry Stradling Sr and there're remastered editions available with stereo sound and original trailer.
The picture was professional as well as competently directed by Charles Vidor and under his direction , all the dramatic and musical elements are adequately blended . Charles Vidor made two Rita Hayworth vehicles, the breezy musical Cover Girl (1944), and Vidor's principal masterpiece, the archetypal film noir : Gilda (1946). Rating : 6.5/10, above average . The flick will appeal musical comedy enthusiasts . Essential and indispensable seeing for Danny Kaye fans . This is a top-notch family entertainment. Well worth watching . -
Watching this again (for only the second time) last night, I was just knocked out by the score. Presumably because of a Broadway-is-better-than-Hollywood bias, the piece tends to be dismissed in the Loesser oeuvre but every single number is a gem -- and the fullest score for a "family fantasy" since THE WIZARD OF OZ. I was particularly taken by INCH WORM, a really short song sung in counterpoint to the children's chanting of their mathematic tables after the schoolmaster has dragged them away from Hans' tales. Not long enough to have a commercial future (outside of a soundtrack album) it tells us more about Hans than most of the scene that precedes it.
As others have noted, Danny Kaye is totally bearable and the kitsch side of the film is now enjoyable for that. (The colours also recall WIZARD.)
This film deserves more recognition in the world of original film musicals. It's a rare classic score at the time of composer compilations or Broadway imports. -
bkoganbing2 July 2005A lot of the comments previously made here are true and this certainly isn't any kind of real biographical film of Hans Christian Anderson. But one must remember that Samuel Goldwyn was primarily making this film as children's entertainment. And on that level he succeeded brilliantly.
In fact at the age of 5 in the cinema in Brooklyn this was the first movie on the big screen I ever remember seeing. My father was a big Danny Kaye fan so the whole family went to see it. And of course one of the first long-playing records we had in our house was the soundtrack to that film.
Another reviewer said that Frank Loesser's score was the highlight for him in the film. I don't think Danny Kaye ever had better material to sing with on the screen. Up to this point he got by with stuff especially written for him by his wife Sylvia Fine. He proved here in Hans Christian Anderson that he could definitely succeed without it.
Anyway when I view this film I'm five years old again. You will be too if you see it. -
erwan_ticheler18 July 2004I'm a big fan of Danny Kaye.Films like ON THE DOUBLE,KNOCK ON WOOD and THE COURT JESTER are enjoyable vehicles.THE INSPECTOR GENERAL is even better but his greatest achievement is the brilliant comedy THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY,it is one of the finest comedies ever made with a superb cast(besides Danny Kaye there is the beautiful Virginia Mayo and Boris Karloff)and a perfect mixture of songs and adventure.
HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN is the worst Danny Kaye film I've ever seen.It doesn't have the story lines of the films mentioned above or a good cast.The worst part is the fact that there are much too many songs in it and it runs way too long,it should have been cut for 90 minutes not 2 hours.The ballet at the end is an anti climax that doesn't even have Danny Kaye in it and the story of Andersen has been changed for no reason at all.
The focus in the film is much too much on the female ballet dancer Zizi Jeanmaire which takes away the comic touches. The songs are not convincing,the only enjoyable song is "Thumbelina".
Danny Kaye shouldn't have cooperated on this project.I would recommend Kaye's classic THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY at any time over this film. 4/10 -
TanyaRFV3 September 2006I grew up watching old Danny Kaye movies. When I found this one, I couldn't resist.
In the age of violence on TV, etc. I would sit with my girls and watch Hans and Peter leave their home and travel to Copenhagen and have wonderful adventures.
Despite the other comment, both of my daughters sat riveted to the screen during the ballet sequences. They loved the beauty and elegance.
But most of all, we all loved Danny. Hans was a character we quoted to each other on a regular basis. He said a few things that we still say. "That's what's nice about the world - people!" He reminds us that sex and violence don't need to be in entertainment in order to be enjoyable. -
moonspinner5521 January 2013Danny Kaye is well-cast, if exceptionally low-keyed, in title role of storytelling Danish cobbler in the 1820s who travels to Copenhagen in search of a better life and winds up falling in love with an already-married ballerina. Moss Hart's screenplay doesn't attempt to follow the actual journey the real-life Hans Christian Andersen took to get from shoemaker to beloved author, and some of his dramatic incidents fail to cohere (such as Andersen being told by his apprentice that members of the ballet troupe were laughing at him, or Andersen landing a writing job at the newspaper but leaving town instead). There are two ballet sequences and a fantasy wedding which are lovely in design but slow down the pacing (the first ballet--a dress rehearsal--actually has nothing whatsoever to do with Andersen); in the meantime, we see Hans arrested for something he didn't do, while a moody kid who doesn't go to school enters and exits the scenario at whim. The pleasant Frank Loesser songs are hummable though not singable, while the proverbial saccharin-factor is kept at a minimum thanks to an even-handed direction by Charles Vidor. ** from ****
-
Petey-106 August 2009This is a movie that's based on the life of the Danish storyteller, H.C.Andersen (1805-1875).Except that it's not.It's more like a fairy tale of his life.Hans is a cobbler living in Odense, a small town in Denmark.He keeps telling fairy tales to local children, which makes the schoolmaster furious, since they rather listen to those fairy tales than attend classes.They then decide Hans has to leave.Hans' apprentice Peter doesn't tell him this, but awakes his old dream of going to Copenhagen.The pair sails off to big city, where he meets a beautiful ballerina, Doro.He falls in love with her immediately.Later he finds out she's married to her tyrannical impresario Niels.But he still keeps his dream alive of having her.Also, one of his tales, The Ugly Duckling, gets published in the Gazette newspaper.And The Little Mermaid is made into a ballet.It is Doro who gets to dance the lead.Hans Christian Andersen is directed by Charles Vidor.It's writers are Myles Connolly, Moss Hart and Ben Hecht.Samuel Goldwyn is the producer.This was his final production for RKO Radio Release.Danny Kaye is just the right man to play the lead.He was a great comedian, and he could nail the more serious roles, as well.The part of Doro is played by the now 85 years old ballet dancer Zizi Jeanmaire.This is her first film role.Farley Granger plays the husband Niels.Also her real life husband, Roland Petit, is in the movie as The Prince in The Little Mermaid ballet.The part of Peter is played by Joseph "Joey" Walsh.Philip Tonge is Otto.John Brown plays Schoolmaster.John Qualen is Burgomaster.Ex-dancer Sylvia Lewis is seen as Danseuse/Corps de Ballet.This is a wonderful film for kids and for the inner kids of us adults.It's a great musical with lots of brilliant songs that bring you in a good mood.Wonderful Copenhagen is very catchy.As are many other songs, including The King's New Clothes and I'm Hans Christian Andersen..It's a sweet moment when Hans sings the song of Thumbelina to the little girl outside the jail.The song was nominated for an Academy Award.Also a sweet moment is when he sings the tale of The Ugly Duckling to a friendless boy, who's head has been shaved due to illness.This is a positive movie, that shows us there's nothing a fairy tale can't fix.Of course life's not like that most of the times, but in a fairy tale anything is possible.
-
A toned-down Danny Kaye stars in this "once upon a time" fairy tale about the greatest fairy tale spinner of all, Denmark's Hans Christian Andersen, creator of the Little Mermaid. Music and lyrics by Frank Loesser yield some memorable tunes, my favorite being "Inchworm" sung by Kaye and the children in the film. There are many songs featured, with "Wonderful Copenhagen," "Thumbelina," "Anywhere I Wander," and "No Two People" well worth listening to and singing again and again. The lovely "Little Mermaid Ballet" is based on Franz Liszt's "B Minor Piano Sonata" (1854), "Les Preludes (1856)", "Tasso" (1849) and "Mephisto Waltz" and danced by Zizi Jeanmaire, Roland Petit, and the Roland Petit Ballet. This is an often underestimated and neglected film. ---from Musicals on the Silver Screen, American Library Association, 2013
-
MarieGabrielle30 November 2006as many other reviews have aptly described the technical aspects, it should be noted that this film was made for a younger audience, and unfortunately there are not many we see today, which may be cited for quality and originality.
In particular, "The Ugly Duckling" story and "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story- how many children have not read or even heard of these fables today? While it is a storybook land, small tales like this stay with us, which we may pass on to our children.
This film used to be on during the 60's and 70's and was always a Christmas favorite. This along with "White Christmas" and "Rudolf" are a few I would heartily recommend for the holiday season. 9/10. -
kd4ttc24 September 2006A few comments have been made about the ballet in this movie. More needs to be said. The ballet is really just wonderful. I am not a ballet fan, but this dance spoke to me. The movie itself tells a story of unattainable love and the ballet is placed in the movie at the point that Hans has just tried to approach the ballerina at the theater. The ballet then tells the story of the Little Mermaid in dance and ends with the little mermaid walking back to the sea. Thereafter Hans has the same experience. This was a much more enjoyable ballet than others I have seen, I think largely because in film one doesn't have the scene changes that are inherent in an on-stage presentation. Critics back in 1952 thought that the ballet was one of the best ballet performances that had ever been brought to the screen. In addition, that ballerina, ZiZi Jeanmaire, could act. Her performance as an woman in an odd relationship who found herself touched by Han's affections was nicely done.
The more you read about Hans Christian Anderson, the more you appreciate this movie. Anderson's approach to his stories was, as he said, to take an adult theme and tell the story in a way children would enjoy it, but to have elements that adults would appreciate. This movie accomplishes this very well. Anderson's father was a cobbler. Anderson originally lived in Odense, a town that at that time was wedded to the past and tradition, who expected that people would remain in their class. He moved to Copenhagen where he found support and success. Eventually he started grammar school on a royal scholarship but was subjected to a stern schoolmaster who sought to put Anderson in his place and punish Anderson for his creative streak. Anderson was rescued by the kindness of others who saw his gift for writing.
The movie itself tells the story of Hans Christian Anderson. As Anderson took an adult idea and made a children's story, this movie takes Anderson's life as a concept and relates a story that is enjoyable by children, but has much to say to adults watching. Anderson was confident of his abilities as a writer and movie Hans sang with confidence at to being a cobbler. He publicly courted two women both of which were unobtainable to him, and his infatuation with the ballerina in the movie paralleled this, as well as simultaneously expressing Anderson's love of ballet. He was also attracted to men, in later years one was a ballet dancer. The previous post about homo-eroticism with the boy in the movie being shirtless in one scene probably reflects that. (The movie doesn't have sexual tension between them. It is a father-son relationship.) For 4 years Anderson was at a school with a stern disciplinarian headmaster. The inchworm song, where the children in the background sing a rote sequence of math facts while movie Hans sings how the inchworm plods along measuring but ends up oblivious to the beauty of the flower was a short fable which both drew on Anderson's life and told a story to children, which was exactly the sort of thing Anderson would have done. Anderson frequently gave magical qualities to inanimate objects in his stories, and the scene where movie Hans had the table and chair relating to each other was charming in the same way. Another scene, where movie Hans tells the ugly ducking song to a child who had lost his hair ended with a shot of a policeman who was standing nearby giving Hans a nod and a smile to Hans for having done a kind thing for a child, which echo's how adults see messages in Anderson's stories. Anderson was not appreciated initially in his native Denmark, but after he had international success he gained great fame in Denmark. When he eventually returned to Odense he was welcomed a hero, which was reflected in the film and was a line where movie Hans said how nice it would be to return home well regarded for his success away from home. There was even a little match girl seen in the movie.
Even the casting of Danny Kaye as Hans was inspired. Anderson was tall, lanky, awkward, and homely, but had a sweet melodious voice, and was able to tell stories so well that one forgot who was telling them and became enveloped in the story itself. Other than awkwardness, this was Danny Kaye.
As many of Anderson's fairy tales were metaphors of his life, this movie is a metaphor of Anderson's life. Within the movie there is the ballet of the Little Mermaid. Thus there is metaphor within metaphor in the movie. There is subtlety in how this movie expresses facets of Anderson's life as there is subtlety in Anderson's fairy tales.
Steve Holland
http://www.endicott-studio.com/jMA03Summer/hans.html
http://www.powells.com/review/2005_06_03.html