Fictionalized (?) account of the brothers Grimm (Laurence Harvey and Karl Boehm)--their lives and loves. Three of their fairy tales are dramatized.
"The Dancing Princess" stars Russ Tamblyn, Jim Backus and Yvette Mimieux. It's cute but there's a dance sequence that goes on much too long. However there is a long coach ride which makes full use of the three screens in Cinerama and provides some fantastic scenery (even on TV).
"The Cobbler and the Elves" stars Harvey and includes a little Puppetoon (stop motion animation) sequence. It's OK for the kids.
"The Singing Bone" has Terry-Thomas and Buddy Hackett fighting a very bad stop-motion animation dragon. As with the first two, it will appeal to kids.
This film must be seen in the Cinerama format--that was a short-lived process in which three screens were used to project a full picture along with three projectors running. The triple screens are used effectively all throughout the film--I can't imagine this working in a pan & scan format. Luckily, Turner Classic Movies always shows it in that format.
It's perfect family entertainment except for a few minor quibbles--at 129 minutes it's a bit too long; there are too many (bad) songs; the dances could be cut and the stop-motion animation is stunningly bad.
Still, it's beautiful to look at, the cast is very good (except for Boehm) and the whole picture has a playful quality about it. Also I've never seen Laurence Harvey so animated and full of life!
Worth catching--in wide screen only.
"The Dancing Princess" stars Russ Tamblyn, Jim Backus and Yvette Mimieux. It's cute but there's a dance sequence that goes on much too long. However there is a long coach ride which makes full use of the three screens in Cinerama and provides some fantastic scenery (even on TV).
"The Cobbler and the Elves" stars Harvey and includes a little Puppetoon (stop motion animation) sequence. It's OK for the kids.
"The Singing Bone" has Terry-Thomas and Buddy Hackett fighting a very bad stop-motion animation dragon. As with the first two, it will appeal to kids.
This film must be seen in the Cinerama format--that was a short-lived process in which three screens were used to project a full picture along with three projectors running. The triple screens are used effectively all throughout the film--I can't imagine this working in a pan & scan format. Luckily, Turner Classic Movies always shows it in that format.
It's perfect family entertainment except for a few minor quibbles--at 129 minutes it's a bit too long; there are too many (bad) songs; the dances could be cut and the stop-motion animation is stunningly bad.
Still, it's beautiful to look at, the cast is very good (except for Boehm) and the whole picture has a playful quality about it. Also I've never seen Laurence Harvey so animated and full of life!
Worth catching--in wide screen only.