Hans Christian Andersen

I first saw this movie when it came out. I was about 7 years old, and I have been singing and dancing along with it ever since. I think all the kids in the family were doing the same. Most recently, my husband and I watched the excellent Blu-Ray edition to celebrate my 71st birthday.. Sugary it may be but it still goes good with ice cream and cake. It was a great celebration of life with music, dance, and story. Several times at my advanced age I still could not resist joining in. There are many wonderful songs in it, including the Oscar nominee "Thumbelina" and a tender melancholy song "Anywhere I Wander", but I think my favorite for singing along is still "Copenhagen" (Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, salty old queen of the sea).

A 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.

source: Hans Christian Andersen

Artistically, "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.

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.

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 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.

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.

as 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.

Firstly the 10 out of 10 is for the songs and NOT for the film itself. Watching this film again for the first time in about 50 years I was again impressed by the Loesser songs. The music, words and rhyming patterns of this man who gave us Guys and Dolls are just perfect for this film. The only part that bored me to tears was the interminable ballet sequence at the end. Fortunately, watching the DVD I could fast forward through this section. I also suspected a subtle homo-erotic subtext in the Andersen scenes with Peter (Joey Walsh) Was that bare-chested scene really necessary? Also the dialog towards the end might subtly suggest this: "Do you mind if I walk beside you? We both seem to be going in the same direction, and there is really only one road." By the way, modern research indicates that Andersen was possibly gay or asexual.