This 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.
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.