Hans Christian Andersen Reviews

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“Rare Beauty in Andersen Film”
The Miami News – Dec. 24, 1952
By: Herb Rau

Simply-Told Fairy Tale

           A motion picture of rare beauty that will hold you enthralled for nearly two hours is “Hans Christian Andersen,” one of the eight new movies opening today in the greater Greater Miami area. This simply-told fairy tale about one of the world’s great story-tellers is at the Colony theater in Miami Beach.

            It’s a tender, charming, magnificent production, reaching a peak of entertainment by virtue of its star (Danny Kaye), its music, ballet, Technicolorful settings, and costumes. It isn’t primarily a children’s movie, in spite of it’s title, yet kids will love it as much as their parents.
            It was a casting gem to place Danny Kaye in this role, far removed from his customary stints as a comedian. As Hans Christian Andersen, he plays the spinner of fairy tales with almost a child-like naivete. The contrast between this gentle personality and the bombastic Jeanmaire, who pirouettes to stardom here, is delightful.

            The film has some of the ballet qualities of “The Red Shoes” and “An American in Paris,” including a ballet number running seventeen minutes. Titled “The Little Mermaid,” it’s a gorgeous spectacle danced by Jeanmaire and Roland Petit and serves as the climax to the simple story.
            As outstanding as the stars are the performances by supporting players Farley Granger as a tempestuous ballet director, and Joey Walsh as Andersen’s young friend. Frank Loesser contributes eight new songs, of which “Wonderful Copenhagen” and “No Two People” are already popular.

  

“Topmost Praise Given ‘Andersen’”
Movie Adds Feathers to Sam Goldwyn’s Cap
The Spokesman-Review – Apr. 16, 1953
By: Margaret Bean

           Samuel Goldwyn’s “Hans Christian Andersen,” now at the Liberty, is not just a picture, it is an event. It is the world of make-believe which carries you off on wings to a “Never, Never Land” and then makes you wish you never had to depart.
            The movie world is full of pictures but it is only once in many blue moons that such a one as “Hans Christian Andersen” comes along. It is the epitome of the imaginative, the beautiful and the poetry of idealism. And it is done in the most exquisite of Technicolor.
            Producer Samuel Goldwyn never does anything unless he can do it in the most perfect way possible. When he dreams he dreams big. He has done that in this picture and used $4,000,000 to turn it into a thing of gossamer beauty.

Biographical Story

           A biographical story of Denmark’s famous spinner of fairy tales, it takes too long to get into the heart of the story. But once it has rolled these scenes out of the way, it picks up its tempo and becomes a thing of sheer delight.
            Danny Kaye, who plays the story teller, is beautifully cast. A comedian who is an artist capable of playing parts of pathos as well as ones of comedy, he makes a thoroughly appealing Hans Christian Andersen. Farley Granger’s part of a ballet master is somewhat overwritten but when he brings on Jeanmarie, France’s foremost ballerina, you forgive him. Or rather she makes you forget him. She is a good ballerina, if not a superb one, and is the soloist in the most imaginative and excitingly conceived ballets. We have had some fine exhibitions of ballet but it has taken Mr. Goldwyn to give us ballet that is so ethereal and ephemeral that it hardly seems to belong to this world.
            In addition to all the beauty, the picture has an admirable musical score that will send you away haunted by “Wonderful Copenhagen.”
            As an excursion into the aesthetic, this picture has everything and Producer Goldwyn deserves not only one feather in his cap but more. I give him two for measure.

 

“Hans Christian Andersen – A Review”
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix – May 23, 1953

           “Hans Christian Andersen,” which opened Friday at the Capitol Theatre, is a fairy tale. If ever there was a medium suited for the visual presentation of fairy tales it is the Technicolor motion picture of the mid-twentieth century, a medium which can effect results which are truly out-of-this-world, which is what fairy tales should be. The technical excellence of “Hans Christian Andersen”—the sound and photographic effects, the rather subdued use of myriad colors, the quaintness of clever sets—make the film a two-hour interlude in wonderland, apart from its story element, which is, quite properly, of the nature of fantasy.

           Children have always been fascinated by fairy tales, and the child in all adults has been eternally attracted to them. It is a fairy-tale quality plus a sense of perfection in “Hans Christian Andersen” which make it a delightful experience for audiences of all sorts of people. However, even those who don’t like fairy tales will find much to relish in this picture which contains eight tuneful song hits and four ballet sequences, one of them, “The Little Mermaid,” lasting for 17 minutes, and the costumes and décor are sufficient in themselves to hold the attention of a ballet-weary or song-tired cynic. It’s a picture that holds many kinds of enjoyment.

           The screenplay for “Hans Christian Andersen” was written by Moss Hart, famed Broadway playwright; the songs are by Frank Loesser, who wrote such hits as “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” and “On a Slow Boat to China;” the choreography is by Roland Petit, a noted French ballet artist, who also dances the ballet. The picture introduces a new star to movieland, Jeanmaire, a lovely French ballerina, and it stars a new type of Danny Kaye in the title role.

           Farley Granger makes a handsome and tempestuous husband for the volatile Jeanmaire; Joey Walsh makes a winning young orphan companion for the hero. The other parts are all character parts to a high degree and are handled dexterously by a well-directed cast. The director is Charles Vidor, and he has achieved a fine balance between the several elements of this film which is packed so full of a number of things. The time of the story is 1830; the place, Denmark, first in the small village of Odense and later in wonderful Copenhagen (the Copenhagen set is reported to be the largest ever designed for a Samuel Goldwyn production).

           The title is bound to capture the interest of audiences throughout the world who have been nurtured on the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. The film is not the story of the writer’s life, but a fairy tale about him. Some of his familiar tales are used in the play – “The Ugly Duckling,” “Thumbelina,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” but the new interpretations bear only slight resemblance to the originals. In other words, there isn’t too much of Hans Christian Andersen in the picture except the title itself, the titles of some of the songs and the time and place of the story. It’s a fairy tale, but a more satisfactory one than is found in most modern musical extravaganzas.

           The story tells of a happy cobbler who holds children from school by his powers of his story-telling. He leaves Odense, his village, and goes to Copenhagen where he falls in love with a beautiful ballerina. He is rudely awakened from his dreams of love, and returns to his native village to charm not only the children but also all the adults with his words of magic. There is gaiety and humor in the story, and for two hours at least the world seems well enough lost in order to be with a man who knows no worry.

           This picture is really fine entertainment for all the family.

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