Hans Christian Andersen

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Charles Vidor directs. Harry Stradling Sr. behind the camera. Frank Loesser scores. Daniel Mandell cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 174 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 2Directed by Charles Vidor, shot by Harry Stradling Sr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Frank Loesser. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Daniel Mandell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Danny Kaye and Farley Granger and Zizi Jeanmaire carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "The glorious story of the greatest storyteller of them all!".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0044685 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Only 77 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 9Classified under 16 themes, including "copenhagen, denmark", "musical", "ballet", "unrequited love".

The technical file

Cinematography

Harry Stradling Sr.

Original score

Frank Loesser

Editing

Daniel Mandell

Costume design

Mary Wills

Makeup / hair

Del Armstrong

Runtime

112 min · 1h 52m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Hans Christian Andersen (1952) ↗

Also by

Charles Vidor

• 
  A Doctor's Diary

  1937 · ★ 9.0
• 
  New York Town

  1941 · ★ 8.5
• 
  The Joker is Wild

  1957 · ★ 8.1
• 
  The Arizonian

  1935 · ★ 8.0
• 
  She's No Lady

  1937 · ★ 8.0
• 
  The Great Gambini

  1937 · ★ 7.5

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-07-24
  ★ 8/10

  It's not a story of his life, just a fairytale about a spinner of fairy tales. So the opening written words say to us the very thing that many across the movie forums have failed to spot, namely that they wasn't going for first tier autobiographical on this! just a celebration of the name and his work is all. Who better to bring the great Dane to the screen than the ebullient Danny Kaye, his exuberant approach to the topic befits the glorious colour that positively sparkles in every frame of Charles Vidor's film. The story tracks the Cobbler Andersen as he leaves his hometown of Odense to seek a new life in the beautiful city of Copenhagen. It is here that he becomes known for his stories that bring about much joy to the children of Denmark - and here that he writes his glorious ballet version of The Little Mermaid. He gets into scrapes, he falls for a pretty girl, and most of all he discovers his vocation in life, this is indeed a delightful fairytale in itself. Sit back and enjoy The Emperor's New Clothes, Wonderful Copenhagen, Thumberlina and The Ugly Duckling, and then fall silenct for the 15 minute showing of The Little Mermaid in all its balletic glory. Hans Christian Andersen is a smashingly buoyant film, one that may come wrapped up in treacle for some folk, but for those of us with a sweet filmic tooth then the pleasures are there to be had. 8/10

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2022-09-11
  ★ 7/10

  It's quite easy to be harsh with this rather fanciful depiction of the life of the eponymous Danish writer. It doesn't bear much resemblance to the life of the real man, and it's rather episodic construction really doesn't help the film flow particularly well at all. That said, however, Danny Kaye and Charles Vidor have clearly had a powerful vision of what they were trying to achieve - and that isn't a biopic. It's a colourful and large scale series of fantasies that tug at the heart strings, make you smile, wince and tap your toes - just as the vivid imagination of the author would have had them do. Kaye plays the role in a characterful and engaging manner, depicting well the poverty, optimism and, yes, the chocolate box Denmark too, as the film takes us through synopses of some of the most politically subtle and potent "fairy tales" ever written. More than that, it's a visual feast with beautifully crafted costumes and scenery - though, the production looks at times, a little stage bound. Of course, to ice this cake, we have a beautiful soundtrack from Frank Loesser with a little help from Messrs. Schubert and Liszt delivering us timelsss standards that are maybe not the most lyrically challenging, but are songs of so many of our childhood's that show Kaye for the multi talented star that he was. I was not a massive fan of the choreography - I found it too precise and a little sterile at times, but the individual dancers are world class and when the story drifts into his fantasy world and leaves the fables to do the work, this is a thoroughly enjoyable 2 hours of escapism.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Samuel Goldwyn Productions

  US

Key crew

• ProducerSamuel Goldwyn
• EditorDaniel Mandell
• Art DirectionAntoni Clave
• Art DirectionRichard Day
• Costume DesignMary Wills
• Costume DesignAntoni Clave
• Makeup ArtistDel Armstrong
• HairstylistHelen Turpin
• ChoreographerRoland Petit
• SongsFrank Loesser
• Costume DesignBarbara Karinska
• Special EffectsClarence Slifer
• Sound RecordistFred Lau

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• copenhagen, denmark
• musical
• ballet
• unrequited love
• heartbreak
• storytelling
• cobbler
• children's book
• aspiring writer
• ballerina
• fictional biography
• shoemaker
• ballet performance
• ballet company
• fairy tale characters
• pointe shoes

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1952-12-19NR