Hans Christian Andersen (1952) - film review

Hans Christian Andersen earns his living making shoes, but his real talent is telling stories, something which makes him a magnet for all the children of his town.  Not everyone appreciates Hans’s gift, however.  The local schoolmaster has grown tired of his pupils missing lessons to listen to the cobbler’s fairy tales and threatens to resign unless he leaves town.  Hans’s young apprentice, Peter, persuades his master that the two of them should go to Copenhagen, a place Hans has always longed to visit.  Not long after their arrival in the Danish capital, Hans is arrested but is soon released so that he can make shoes for a travelling ballet company.  When he sees the leading ballerina, Doro, he falls instantly in love with her, not realising that she is already married, to the ballet’s manager, Niels.  Hoping to win Doro for himself, Hans writes a story especially for her, The Little Mermaid...

The wonderful Danny Kaye lives up to his image as the avuncular songster in this lavish, and entirely fictitious, account of the life of the great writer of children’s fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen.  This film marked a high point in Kaye’s relatively short but extraordinarily successful film career, making good use of his skills as an actor, comedian, singer and dancer.  Was there ever a performer who had such an appeal for children and yet was still adored by adults?  He was one of a kind.

Hans Christian Andersen was among the most ambitious projects undertaken by independent film producer Sam Goldwyn and it ended up being one of his biggest commercial successes.  It took Goldwyn fifteen years and over a dozen screenplays before he found the treatment that he had been looking for and was able to realise a longstanding dream.  Directed with flair by Charles Vidor and with Danny Kaye perfectly cast in the lead role, the film recounts the life of Andersen as he might himself have told it, not as a dry factual biography, but as a spellbinding magical fairy tale.

The main charm of the film is its collection of musical numbers, many of which have become memorable classics in their own right.  All of the songs were composed by the great Frank Loesser, who also provided the strangely unforgettable lyrics.   These include: Inchworm, The King’s New Clothes, Thumbelina, Wonderful Copenhagen, The Ugly Duckling... – a compendium of some of the most enduring songs ever composed for the silver screen, and each one an instant hit with the little ones.

Hans Christian Andersen is often written off as a children’s film, which is manifestly unfair. Whilst the film’s simplicity, warmth and innocence make it irresistible for children, there is plenty to engage the grown-ups – a poignant story of unrequited love and an inspired ballet interpretation of The Little Mermaid, to say nothing of the nostalgia factor and the film’s strong emotional pull.   Can anyone watch The Ugly Duckling sequence and keep a dry eye?  There could hardly be a better tribute to the greatest writer of children’s stories, a man who has brought magic into the lives of practically every one of us and taught us to imagine.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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