Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
Genre: Biography / Family
Duration: 112 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Charles Vidor
Stars: Danny Kaye, Farley Granger and Zizi Jeanmaire
IMDb score:
6,9 (4.613)
Releasedate: 19 December 1952
Hans Christian Andersen plot
"The glorious story of the greatest storyteller of them all!"
Made-up biography about the shoemaker and famous Danish fairy tale teller Hans Christian Andersen (Danny Kaye). The Danish shoemaker Andersen is popular with the children in the village where he lives. He always tells them beautiful stories. But because of this, the children miss their schoolwork. After Andersen is admonished for this by the mayor, he moves to Copenhagen. There he supplies ballet shoes to star dancer Dora. Andersen, who is secretly in love with Dora, writes a fairy tale for her, entitled 'The Little Mermaid'...
Actors and actresses
Hans Christian Andersen
Niels
Doro
Peter
Otto
Burgomaster
The Hussar - Danced by
The Prince in 'The Little Mermaid' Ballet
Schoolmaster
Celine
Reviews & comments
Movsin
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- 8286 messages
- 8442 votes
A fairy tale about a fairy tale writer and at the same time a wonderful musical with an endearing Danny Kaye, unique in his act as a storyteller and friend of children.
The ballets may be appealing to fans, but it's the stories and the catchy songs that define the film's value.
Saw the film many, many years ago and surprisingly on this recent re-watch, songs like 'Inchworm', 'Thumbelina' and especially 'The Ugly Duckling' stuck with me perfectly.
Also to be appreciated are the sets and the costuming, as well as the young Jogy Walsh.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Onderhond
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- 87623 messages
- 12890 votes
Kaye and Andersen.
It's interesting that it's not a classic biopic, but rather a fairy tale version of a fairy tale writer's life. The structure works much better for a musical than a classic biopic, which tends to rely more on drama and rise-and-fall. It's all a bit too negative for a generally positive genre.
Kaye does a decent job, but this film doesn't differ much from many other musicals of the era. Lots of color, cheerful people, and above all, lots of songs, with the occasional bit of dance thrown in. In this film, that's mostly ballet, a bit less than what Astaire usually does.
But the cheerfulness certainly makes it very easy to watch. It's definitely not my genre, but I'd rather films like this than yet another poverty porn arthouse flick. Those are just as cliché, only they drag along excruciatingly slowly, while this one has a decent pace.
1.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
clubsport
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- 3890 messages
- 6993 votes
Hans is quite a romantic dreamer, and when he sees Dora and also sees how her husband treats her harshly when it comes to her performance as a dancer (he is her boss) Hans thinks she is unhappy in her marriage (nothing could be further from the truth).
An original angle in which dreamer Hans thinks he has a chance with Dora
but doesn't realize that she's just happy in her marriage.
A surprisingly serious theme in this otherwise cheerful musical tale, Kaye does an excellent job as Hans and this time his jokes and gags are considerably toned down without losing his cheerful charisma.
The sets are also beautiful (especially at the beginning in the village).
Translated from Dutch · View original
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