Truly Dreadful Film

Highly Overrated But Still Good

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

I saw this as a child and it enchanted me and it stayed with me for years. How disappointed was I as a grown up that it had dated so badly. It was annoying and trite and made me a little uncomfortable. Danny Kaye was a favourite of mine many years ago with his Mitty movie and The Court Jester ( the pellet with the poison routine still cracks me up). He was rather subdued in this film and I now find the songs I loved too cheesy and very much fifties. The ballet sequences are terrifically staged and still work brilliantly. Who knew Zizi Jeanmaire was the person in Peter Sarsted's song?! Perhaps it still works for children even now but not for adults. The songs I remember were a staple of fifties radio and are a part of my childhood and speak of a much more innocent time.

So the opening written words say to us the very thing that many across the site have failed to spot, namely they wasn't going for autobiographical, just a celebration of the name and his work.Who better to bring the great Dane to the screen than Danny Kaye, his ebullient approach to the topic befits the glorious color that sparkles in each frame. 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 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.Sit back and enjoy The Emperor's New Clothes, Wonderful Copenhagen, Thumberlina and The Ugly Duckling, and then pray silence for the 15 minute showing of The Little Mermaid, smashingly buoyant film that may come wrapped up in treacle for some, but hey I got a sweet tooth and it works for me. 8/10

I'm a big fan of Danny Kaye.Films like ON THE DOUBLE,KNOCK ON WOOD and THE COURT JESTER are enjoyable vehicles.THE INSPECTOR GENERAL is even better but his greatest achievement is the brilliant comedy THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY,it is one of the finest comedies ever made with a superb cast(besides Danny Kaye there is the beautiful Virginia Mayo and Boris Karloff)and a perfect mixture of songs and adventure.HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN is the worst Danny Kaye film I've ever seen.It doesn't have the story lines of the films mentioned above or a good cast.The worst part is the fact that there are much too many songs in it and it runs way too long,it should have been cut for 90 minutes not 2 hours.The ballet at the end is an anti climax that doesn't even have Danny Kaye in it and the story of Andersen has been changed for no reason at all.The focus in the film is much too much on the female ballet dancer Zizi Jeanmaire which takes away the comic touches. The songs are not convincing,the only enjoyable song is "Thumbelina".Danny Kaye shouldn't have cooperated on this project.I would recommend Kaye's classic THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY at any time over this film. 4/10

Beautiful cinematography and set design. Plodding ballet sequences. Great songs. Blatant homo-erotic sub-tones....exactly why is Peter doing that scene without his shirt on? Peter jealous of Hans? The feeling is in every scene between the two leads. Intended? Check out the same situation in director Charles Vidor's "Gilda." Anyway, nothing's better than Technicolor.And, since IMDb requires ten lines for a review (who needs to listen to pontification?), let's see what else I can say. How many kids do you think sat still during that long ballet interlude? The last half of the film drags considerably. I agree with a previous comment...."Inch Worm" is the best song, and it didn't even make it into the original theatrical trailer.