I 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.

Yesterday 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.

A 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 Hollandhttp://www.endicott-studio.com/jMA03Summer/hans.htmlhttp://www.powells.com/review/2005_06_03.html

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.