The lack of pretension, straightforward storyline and location shooting force you to judge this film as what it is, namely a fairly faithful adaptation of a children's classic with a cast of carefully chosen actors, a good central performance, solid support and lots of beautiful scenery. By now the story of the young Swiss girl living in a mountain village with her adored grandfather, being whisked off to Frankfurt and then returning home has been told and re-told on film and television, not least in 1937 when child star Shirley Temple, then at the height of her fame, made a not-too-successful stab at the role and though I haven't seen the Temple version I can well imagine how Swiss she sounded if indeed they didn't transpose it to the Rockies. This version from 1952 is both pleasant and watchable.
6 Reviews
Affectionate, careful children's film not only children can appreciate
dkbs1 May 2006
This is the first film version of the famous children's book by Johanna Spyri in German language. It tells the story of a little swiss girl who lives with her grandfather Alp-Öhi solitarily in the swiss mountains. Someday Heidi is taken away to Frankfurt/Germany where she makes friends with Clara, a little girl who sits in a wheelchair, but becomes homesick... "Heidi" is a carefully made, affectionate film with good actors and good direction by Luigi Comencini, an Italian director who has had made some film in the neorealistic style and later entertainment films with the best known Italian actors. The film certainly benefits by the fact it was made in Switzerland, where the story in fact takes place. The style of this film is influenced by the visually ambitious so called "Bergfilme" (mountain-films) for example by Arnold Fanckh or Luis Trenker, as well as it seems influenced a little by the style of the Italian "Neorealism". This film version even tells about the social reality of the 19th century. Enjoyable is it's absence of kitsch so many mountain-films as well as children's films are infected by.
A good film. (Much better than it's sequel "Heidi und Peter" which I saw the day after)
A good film. (Much better than it's sequel "Heidi und Peter" which I saw the day after)
A childhood favorite
nellybly6 November 2005
I haven't seen this movie since I was a child but even then I preferred it over the Shirley Temple film.
The version I saw was dubbed into English. Normally that irritated me (and still does, the rare times I see a dubbed movie--nowadays they're more often subtitled) but it actually made it easier to get into the movie because I didn't have to read any subtitles (and I don't know German). I read well above my grade level but it still would have been distracting. Now I probably wouldn't mind.
This movie is much more faithful to the book than the 1937 version.
Probably because it was filmed in Switzerland, where the story takes place, it has beautiful scenery. They didn't have use any back projections and sound stages for the outdoor sequences, something I noticed even as a child.
I looked forward to each time it came on TV in the Los Angeles area, where I grew up. I don't why they stopped showing it unless it was because the Shirley Temple version, which began to be shown a lot at that time, simply displaced it. If so, it's a shame. I'd love to see it again (and again and again, just like back then).
I was always fascinated with the story because my great-grandmother was from Switzerland and was a child at the time the book was originally published.
The version I saw was dubbed into English. Normally that irritated me (and still does, the rare times I see a dubbed movie--nowadays they're more often subtitled) but it actually made it easier to get into the movie because I didn't have to read any subtitles (and I don't know German). I read well above my grade level but it still would have been distracting. Now I probably wouldn't mind.
This movie is much more faithful to the book than the 1937 version.
Probably because it was filmed in Switzerland, where the story takes place, it has beautiful scenery. They didn't have use any back projections and sound stages for the outdoor sequences, something I noticed even as a child.
I looked forward to each time it came on TV in the Los Angeles area, where I grew up. I don't why they stopped showing it unless it was because the Shirley Temple version, which began to be shown a lot at that time, simply displaced it. If so, it's a shame. I'd love to see it again (and again and again, just like back then).
I was always fascinated with the story because my great-grandmother was from Switzerland and was a child at the time the book was originally published.
Excellent, better than Any other version I've seen hands down.
justez25 February 2016
This is an all-time favorite movie for our family, my girls and I watched it many time as they were growing. When I first watched the movie I had no idea this was the original, what a beautiful and pleasant surprise my girls, mom, and I loved it, in fact my youngest daughter looks a lot like Elizabeth Sigmund which made me love the film even more. I'm very fortunate to have found this VHS film at the Goodwill store: it will be treasured. The Swiss Alps are just majestic and beautiful, and even though the film is in black and white the beauty of the Alps is undeniable. the story is a classic filled with love,passion,drama,and humor. The cast is just excellent, for me this film lack nothing. The Hollywood versions of this classic are well made movies,and are the ones I grow up with, however, this Heidy by Mr. Luigi Comencini tops them all.
1952 Swiss version of Heidi
dspeer823 January 2013
This is an all-time favorite movie of my family as kids growing up. Whenever we get together we find opportunities to use lines from the movie for various situations. For instance, when the woman frantically calls the butler, Saisamond! Saisamond! that always cracks us up. The story is just wonderful, the characters believable, and even the dubbed words are not a problem. I forgot that they were dubbed. I agree with others who have said that the Shirley Temple version pales in comparison with this version. Would love to have it. I would like to get a copy of the movie. Could someone email how I can get a copy of it. dspeer8@gmail.com Thanks.
Not my favorite version for sure
Horst_In_Translation19 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Heidi" is a Swiss German-language movie from 1952, so this one has its 65th anniversary this year. It was directed by Luigi Comencini and written by a whole lot of writers who adapted Johanna Spyri's famous original work. This 95-minute film here is a relatively early version of the known story about a young girl who has to move to the city but suffers because she belongs to the mountains. But it is by far not the earliest. I think one problem here is the lack of color for me. The cinematography, costumes and more from Heidi really scream for color and it elevates the material by so much and actually around that time there are already many color films out there, but this one here is in black-and-white. This is probably also one reason why I like the later Austrian version more than this one here. Another may be that the actress who played Heidi did very little for me here and same goes for the actor who plays her grandfather. It was a nice little surprise to see Theo Lingen in here, even if he doesn't have a great deal of screen time at all, but the clear standouts here were the ones who played Klara and Fräulein Rottenmeier I guess and they stayed somewhat memorable to me. Apart from that, however, nothing really did and that's why I have to give this one here a thumbs-down. It also did not feel as much from the heart really compared to other Heidi films like the one I already mentioned or also for example the very recent one starring Bruno Ganz as the grandfather. A bit of a pity, but I think you should skip this one here and check out one of these.
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