Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, The (1962) - full review!
Co-directed by Henry Levin and producer George Pal, this average biographical fantasy won an Oscar for Best Costume Design and was nominated for Color Art Direction-Set Decoration & Cinematography, and Score. The film was made using the three projector Cinerama process, which loses something in the translation to a television set, even in letterbox format. One can clearly see the seams between the three screens in most shots and even some tinting differences in a few scenes ("The Singing Bone" sequence being the most obvious). There is also the affect where persons in the outer thirds appear larger than their peers in the middle of the same frame. Though it must have been something to see in the theater, the effects used give the audience a "ride" or a sense of motion (most notably in "The Dancing Princess" sequence), these scenes fall flat without a 25 foot radius rounded screen.
As for the film's story, the biography is centered around the brothers Grimm, the "big kid" family man Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) and the more serious bachelor Jacob (Karlheinz Böhm). While both are working on an historical account of the local Duke's (Oscar Homolka; his manservant Gruber is played by Ian Wolfe) family history, Wilhelm keeps trying to convince his brother that they should be capturing children's stories they hear for future generations, before they're lost forever. Additionally, he and bookstore owner Stossel (Walter Slezak) play matchmaker for the preoccupied Jacob with Greta Heinrich (Barbara Eden); Wilhelm's wife Dorothea is played by Claire Bloom. During the course of this backdrop story, Wilhelm tells (to children such as his own) or hears (from an old woman played by Martita Hunt) of these fairy tales:
The Dancing Princess story is about a King (Jim Backus) that wants to know what his daughter (Yvette Mimieux) is doing every night to wear out her shoes. He can't find out because she's been drugging the men, who've been promised her hand in marriage if they can, before she goes out. Enter the Woodsman (Russ Tamblyn), who's been given a special invisibility cloak by the Gypsy (Beulah Bondi). Naturally, given Tamblyn’s talents, the Princess has been sneaking out to dance the night away with other gypsies. Utilizing the cloak, the Woodsman is able to follow her, then appear & dance his way into her heart (wearing a mask), and ultimately win the Princess per the King's promise and (mask-less) even her approval.
The Cobbler (also played by Harvey, in makeup that makes him look like Pinocchio's Geppetto) and the Elves story is a touching one about the harried craftsman who's working to complete toy elves for the poor children across the street in time for Christmas. This necessitates neglecting his regular work and jeopardizes his chances of finishing the shoes of several impatient customers (Walter Brooke, Sandra Gale Bettin, and Robert Foulk) in time for the Prime Minister's (Clinton Sundberg) party. However, when he goes to sleep on Christmas Eve, the elves come to life and finish the shoes for him. David Pal's special effects are above average.
The Singing Bone story includes a fire breathing dragon that so terrorizes his country that the King (Otto Kruger) promises to give half of his kingdom to the person that slays it. Bumbling knight Ludwig (Terry-Thomas) and his ill-treated, yet resourceful humble servant Hans (Buddy Hackett) set about to do just that, where others have failed. Long scenes sporting inferior (dragon) special effects finally produce the predicted results, the dragon is killed, but with an unexpected outcome, Hans did it. But before they return to the King with the dragon's head, Ludwig kills Hans to ensure credit for himself. However, a year later, a shepherd (Robert Crawford Jr.) finds a bone on Hans’s grave which "tells" the truth of what happened. Sydney Smith narrates. Ludwig gets his comeuppance as Hans reappears before the King.
*** SPOILERS ***
While Wilhelm hears the old woman tell this last story, he not only loses the manuscript of the Duke's family history, but he nearly catches his death of cold. Greta leaves for her home country of Germany when Jacob chooses to support his brother's family in their poverty, caused by the loss of their job for the Duke, in lieu of marrying her. Delirious during his recovery, Wilhelm is visited (dream sequence) by many of the more famous characters from fairy tales who urge him to write them down lest they disappear forever. Arnold Stang plays Rumpelstiltskin. Of course, he recovers and, while Jacob continues to write such thrillers as "Legal History", Wilhelm cranks out book after book of these children's stories. In the end, Jacob is honored with literary honors in Germany. While he's "reunited" with Greta, Wilhelm receives a welcome greeting from hundreds of German children shouting "tell us a story", which naturally he begins with "once upon a time" before the film fades to black.
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