Watch Hans Christian Andersen For Free

Thanks for the memories!

Sick Product of a Sick System

One of my all time favorites.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

My vote is largely for the superb score by Frank Loesser; written a scant two years after his great Broadway masterpiece Guys And Dolls the most striking thing about it is its complete difference to the Broadway musical with the only commonality being the melodic melodies and literate lyrics. Danny Kaye, of course, phones it in, and whilst its easy to see how a child may be captivated by his easy charm the adult will note the cynicism at work and the calculation that goes into every smile to ensure just the right amount of sincerity, not too little, not too much, in some ways Kaye was the Olivier of the cinema. On the other hand Sam Goldwyn clearly instructed his creative team to come up with an entertaining, schmaltzy musical full of sentiment and songs and, let's face it, he got just that.

This 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.

So the opening written words say to us the very thing that many across the site have failed to spot, namely they wasn't going for autobiographical, just a celebration of the name and his work.Who better to bring the great Dane to the screen than Danny Kaye, his ebullient approach to the topic befits the glorious color that sparkles in each frame. 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 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.Sit back and enjoy The Emperor's New Clothes, Wonderful Copenhagen, Thumberlina and The Ugly Duckling, and then pray silence for the 15 minute showing of The Little Mermaid, smashingly buoyant film that may come wrapped up in treacle for some, but hey I got a sweet tooth and it works for me. 8/10

I 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.