Kay storyteller There lived in a Danish village shoemaker-fairytale Hans, who was loved by children, and not so much by the adult population. The latter had, in fact, two claims to Hans. One is that it distracts their kids from school. And the second claim is that Hans should have devoted more time to his primary profession. And to avoid the nascent conflict, Hans' stepson Peter persuades him to go "to see" in Copenhagen. And there Hans on the first day manages to go to prison, then get a job as a shoemaker in a ballet, fall in love with a married lady and start a new life as a storyteller.
A funny interpretation of the “becoming” of Denmark’s most famous writer, which has nothing in common with the real life of Hans Christian Andersen. However, Charles Vidor did not claim to stage a historically verified biopic. This film is shot on the wave of successes of the symbiosis of the musical and ballet, which in 1948 was born by the British couple “The Archers” Michael Powell and Emerick Pressburger (“Red Shoes”) and in 1951 all the cream managed to collect Vincent Minnelli (“American in Paris”). And so this production will also feature a professional ballerina (Zizy Jeanmer), a long final overture ballet (The Little Mermaid), and a lot of songs from Danny Kay. The only thing that will not be in the film (although it would not interfere with the corresponding genre) is the dance numbers (professional ballet pas from Jeanmer do not count), since Kay is definitely not Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly. And everything else is filmed according to the patterns of the musical-ballet genre of those years.
I wouldn’t say that Vidor’s film was flawless. It lacks the plot heat, and the main conflict of interest is built on the fabulously invented (almost naive) love of the main character. From this Andersen/Kay is derived a bit of a foolish hero, albeit living in the world of good fairy tales, but far from the real life of adults. And the constant craving of Hans for children causes some not very good thoughts. By the way, the real Andersen disliked children and psychoball when he was called a “children’s writer”. However, Danny Kay has a proper charge of charm, so that even the most fascinating interpretation of the life of a storyteller is presented in a very watchable manner. And the passion of Kay / Andersen in the form of a pretty Zizie Jeanmer Charles Vidor picked up very successfully.
According to this film, the biography of Hans Christian Andersen is not worth studying, but for the filmography of Charles Vidor and Danny Kay, this work can be safely put into the asset.
6.5 out of 10