Van Johnson: Pied Piper of Hamelin

Starring:Van Johnson, Claude Rains, Lori Nelson, Jim Backus, Kay Starr, Oliver Blake, Doodles Weaver, Amzie Strickland, Stanley Adams, Carl Benton Reid, Rene Kroper
Director: Bretaigne Windust
Studio: Alpha Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

enjoyable for film trivia buffs
Very weird, very corny, very dumb!!
Flawed technical job, but a reasonable price
'Pied Piper is a treat for all ages!'

Van Johnson: Pied Piper of Hamelin
Starring: Van Johnson , Claude Rains , Lori Nelson , Jim Backus , and Kay Starr
Director: Bretaigne Windust
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

enjoyable for film trivia buffs.......2007-06-25

I just watched this film for the first time on PBS. I thought I must have been made in the 1930's because it seemed so dated, but discovered it was a made-for-tv movie in 1957. If I were just watching it as face-value entertainment, I would have thought it odd and boring, but I LOVED the cast and how it was made. I loved recognizing Edvard Grieg's (modified) music, and the rhyming dialog that I later discovered was from Robert Browning's poem. I had only seen Van Johnson in WW II movies, and so didn't know he sang, which was enjoyable. Same for Claude Raines. And Jim Backus was a great addition. There were a lot of special effects that must have been really "leading edge" at the time (Van Johnson playing himself double, animated rats being driven to the river, items magically appearing and disappearing), and color at the time was very new, especially on tv. I loved the quirkiness and had a great time watching it.

Very weird, very corny, very dumb!!.......2006-07-03

My daughter's friend loaned her this film, saying, "This is one of the strangest movies I have ever seen. Watch it and tell me what you think of it." So we gave it a whirl, and we too found it very strange, right from the beginning. Seeing Van Johnson as the piper in that ugly red and white cape, slithering down the tree trunk like a snake was the sign this was only going to go downhill from here, and it did. I got bored with it pretty fast, and having so many dumb songs didn't help move it along either. The rhyming dialog was hokey too. It was pretty close to torture to watch...I rate movies 1 star that are pure torture ( such as the worst movies I think I have ever witnessed: Buster Keaton in Boom in the Moon, and Elvis Presley's Harum Scarum). This wasn't PURE torture, but pretty close. So really it rates 1 and 1/2 stars. I have never liked Van Johnson much, so he didn't help me like this weird bit of cinema. I have enjoyed Claude Rains in many classic films. I wonder why he stooped so low to be the mayor in this dumb movie? I guess by the time any actor is 68 yrs. old, they will take any role they can get, and such must have been Rains' case. During one of the dumb songs, I said to my daughter, " When this is over, I am going to go online and read reviews about it, and I bet this is one of those films that will have tons of "Oh, this was my favorite film when I was a child; so glad to see it available again" type reviews. I got on IMDb and I was right! Nearly every review gushed at how wonderful this film was because of a childhood memory!! It made me laugh! I guess I wanted to post this review to sort of balance out these sorts of childhood memory reviews. I have watched over 600 films from the classic era ( silents thru the 1950's) and this one is really really bad, folks. I guess if you get it for a dollar at Walmart, you aren't losing much to try it out. And maybe if you are a diehard fan of Van Johnson, you would want this in your collection. I know everyone has different appreciation for what is a "good movie". But all in our house were very glad when it was finally over, and we could watch something REALLY good!!!

Flawed technical job, but a reasonable price.......2003-05-08

As a tiny tot I vaguely remember being mesmerized by this colorful children's production. Today I am able to see how contrived and staged a production it was. Nonetheless, it is a classic of the period.

If you are spoiled by some of the beautiful sight and sound restorations of old films available on DVD today, this one will leave you disappointed. On the DVD I purchased, both the film and soundtrack are filled with artifacts. During one production sequence called "Prestige" film frames are dropped and the sound is severely truncated, even going out of synch in one section. This may be the only source print available, however.

The DVD is also flawed by poor DVD authoring. The menu index does not correctly correspond to the film's content. In fact, the true Chapter I of the authoring is not accessible via the DVD menu at all on my copy. This is poor technical work and totally avoidable.

But, it is not an expensive issue and it does provide an opportunity to see some classic performances by Claude Rains, Van Johnson, and Jim Backus. The film includes a wonderful guest performance by Kay Starr.

This is a piece I'd like to see a fine team of restoration experts tackle. But for less than 10 bucks it isn't a bad deal. It's no worse than watching old film prints on Sunday afternoon local affiliate TV stations.

'Pied Piper is a treat for all ages!'.......2003-04-07

This Alpha Video DVD of 'The Pied Piper Of Hamelin' is the best source print of this film I have ever seen.

'Pied Piper Of Hamelin' (1956) is a family treat for all ages and for all holidays. First filmed in color as a Hallmark TV special, it is a masterful, musical re-telling of the legendary fairy tale using the beautiful mysterious, music of Edward Grieg with new lyrics.

The cast is first-rate, with movie great Van Johnson brilliantly playing the strange and often frightening piper, as well as the kind school teacher Trueson, who is also the village concience. Legendary movie villain Claude Rains is absolutely wonderful as the clever, sneering, and corrupt lord mayor of Hamelin. Rains has a ball playing him like Prince John of 'Adventures Of Robin Hood' (1938) in retirement! He even does a comical, show-stopping song and dance! Jim Backus also appears as the King's messenger, and his comedy is sorely needed as this fairy tale goes dark in it's second half.

One highlight of the film, is Van Johnson as the Pied Piper, leading the rats out of Hamelin to their deaths in the river. He is playing on his pipe the haunting melody of 'In The Hall Of The Mountain King' from Mr. Grieg's 'Peter Guint Suite' as the cleverly animated rats march to oblivion!

Unlike the fairy tale, this 'Pied Piper Of Hamelin' has a happy ending with a lesson for everyone about greed, selfishness, and false pride.

Average customer rating:

Sometimes older is better

The Pied Piper Hamelin
Starring: Van Johnson
Manufacturer: Allied Artists Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Sometimes older is better .......2005-08-05

This review is being written from memory of when I used to watch this movie on TV!! It's a little dated with lack of today's spectacular FX, but it's still a good, clean, old-time fanstasy based on a fairly tale that the whole family can watch.
I liked the story (even though it doesn't follow the actual story exactly, because in the fairly tale there was no happy ending). The music was great and based off classical music and used very effectively throughout the movie. (The piece used as the piper's tune to lure the rats away has stuck with me all my life.) Definitely a movie parents can let children can watch and not be worried about filthy language or horrifying special effects. It also teaches a lesson about honor and the consequences of not living up to it. Highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Manufacturer: Front Row Entertainment, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Digtally Remastered for Superior Picture Quality
Remastered to AC-3 Dobly Digital for Surround Sound

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Average customer rating:

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
ASIN: B000E4JLSE

Till the Clouds Roll By Double 2 Features The Pied Piper of Hamelin

Average customer rating:

Till the Clouds Roll By Double 2 Features The Pied Piper of Hamelin

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Double Feature, Two Movies

Average customer rating:

Pied Piper of Hamelin
Director: Bretaigne Windust
Manufacturer: East West Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Color

ASIN: B000KMBXUE

Product Description

The cover artwork might be animated but this film is a live action 1957 film based on the classic tale of the magical piper who cleans an entire village of rats and then disappears with the children into a mountain when the towns people fail to keep their promise of paying him. Great fun for the whole family!

The Pied Piper Of Hamelin (Digitally Remastered)

Average customer rating:

A Fond Memory From Youth

The Pied Piper Of Hamelin (Digitally Remastered)

Manufacturer: Digiview Productions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

The Pied Piper of Hamelin (Everyman's Library Children's Classics)
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ASIN: B0006MYXSW

Product Description

Digitally Remastered - Based on the Brothers Grimm tale, this film tells the well-known tale of Hamelin, a village plagued by rats. In order to deal with the problem, the village Mayor hires a Piper to lure the rodents away and agrees to a handsome fee as payment. The rats are led away, only to have the mayor renege on his promise. In revenge, the Piper lures all the children of the village to his mountain lair. Don't worry, the film offers a happy ending. Most of the film dialogue is spoken in rhyme over an excellent Edvard Grieg music score.

Customer Reviews:

A Fond Memory From Youth.......2005-11-21

Unique for the Fifties, this made for television "spectacular" (as they were called in those days) was a favorite for years, and can still be seen on TV occasionally. It was filmed in Technicolor for the overseas market, with full Hollywood production values courtesy of Hal Stanley, the man in charge of bringing the famous tale to life. The music of Edvard Grieg is used quite effectively, both as background/foreground music and as melody for song (book and lyrics by Irving Taylor and Hal Stanley). Van Johnson's Pied Piper portrayal stuck with him for the remainder of his career, so strong was this 1957 production (he was even asked to semi-reprise the role for the "Batman" television series, but they called his character "The Minstrel"). He had been a leading man since the 1940s, with a serviceable, if not great, singing voice, and he acquits himself admirably here. His co-stars, the wonderful Claude Rains (who also gets a chance to sing), Lori Nelson, Kay Starr, Jim Backus, Doodles Weaver and Stanley Adams (the latter two as a sort of Laurel and Hardy pairing of henchmen for Rains) all throw themselves into the performance, adding their own touches to the proceedings. Highlights are the inspired use of "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" for the Piper's rat-luring sequence, the snatching of the town's children when the Piper is not paid, Backus' leering, blowhard antics as the King's emissary, and Rains and the town politicians defining "Prestige" in song. Since copyright has expired on this film, there are many, many issues on VHS and DVD. This one is packaged well, sound and picture reproduced quite crisply, except for some minor glitches in the "Prestige" number. Even after all these years, this production of "Hamelin" still works and warms (it has a happy ending, which, of course, the original tale does not). You may want to screen it yourself before showing it to young children, as the sequence of rats (animated though they may be) drowned and a crippled child crying when he is unable to follow the others into the mountain may be a bit much for the small set. The lyrics of several of the songs may also go over their heads, although they will have fun with "Flim Flam Floo". Enjoy.

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