Peter Pan

Plot synopsis:
Set in London, circa 1900, George and Mary Darling's preparations to attend a party are disrupted by the antics of their boys, John and Michael, acting out a story about Peter Pan and the pirates, told to them by their older sister, Wendy. Their father, who is fed up with the stories that have made his children less practical, angrily declares that Wendy has gotten too old to continue staying in the nursery with them. That night, they are visited in the nursery by Peter Pan himself, who teaches them to fly with the help of his pixie friend, Tinker Bell, and takes them with him to the island of Never Land.
A ship of pirates is anchored off Never Land, commanded by Captain Hook with his sidekick, Mr. Smee. Hook boldly plots to take revenge upon Peter Pan for cutting off his hand, but trembles at the presence of a crocodile, which consumed Hook’s hand and is eager to taste the rest of him. The crew's restlessness is interrupted by the arrival of Peter and the Darlings. Tinker Bell, who is very jealous of Pan’s attention to Wendy, persuades the Lost Boys that Pan has ordered them to shoot down Wendy, which Tink refers to as a “Wendy bird”. Tinker Bell's treachery is soon found out, and Peter banishes her. John and Michael set off with the Lost Boys to find the island's Indians, who instead capture them, believing them to be the ones responsible for taking the chief's daughter, Tiger Lily.
Meanwhile, Peter takes Wendy to see the mermaids. The mischievous mermaids delight in tormenting Wendy but flee in terror at the sight of Hook. Peter and Wendy see that Hook and Smee have captured Tiger Lily so that they might persuade her to disclose Peter's hideout. Peter and Wendy free her, and Peter is honored by the tribe. Hook then plots to take advantage of Tinker Bell's jealousy of Wendy, tricking her into revealing the location of Peter's lair. Wendy and her brothers eventually grow homesick and plan to return home. They invite Peter and the Lost Boys to return to London and be adopted by the Darling parents. The Lost Boys agree, but Peter is so set against growing up that he refuses, presumptuously thinking that they will all return shortly. The pirates lie in wait and capture the Lost Boys and the Darlings as they exit, leaving behind a time bomb to kill Peter. Tinker Bell learns of the plot just in time to snatch the bomb from Peter as it explodes.
Peter rescues Tinker Bell from the rubble and together they confront the pirates, releasing the children before they can walk the plank. Peter engages Hook in single combat as the children fight off the crew, and finally succeeds in humiliating the captain. Hook and his crew flee, with the crocodile in hot pursuit. Peter gallantly commandeers the deserted ship, and assisted by Tinker Bell's pixie dust, flies it to London with the children aboard. However, the Lost Boys decide to return to Never Land rather than be adopted in London. Mr. and Mrs. Darling return home from the party to find Wendy not in her bed, but sleeping at the open window. Wendy awakens and excitedly tells about their adventures. The parents look out the window and see what appears to be a pirate ship in the clouds. Mr. Darling, who has softened his position about Wendy staying in the nursery, recognizes it from his own childhood.

Tags: fantasy, action

Review:
It was preserved in color, which is a miracle considering there were virtually no color sets in existence then.Mary Martin is great as Peter (she was 47 years old when she did this very acrobatic role!), but Cyril Ritchard pretty much steals the production from her with his Hook.
I think I can add some information.The 1955 version of Peter Pan was done live from NY and then redone the following year.
That version was preserved on Kinescope, but not videotape.In 1960, NBC re-staged the production and videotaped it in their wonderful old Brooklyn studios - by the way, I believe that The Cosby Show in the '80s was produced at the same NBC Brooklyn Studios.The 1960 production was videotaped and rebroadcast a number of times, and may be available on VHS now.As the 4-year old son of an NBC publicity flack, I had the wonderful privilege of attending the taping of the show and I have a magnificent b&w photograph of me, in a gray flannel suit - in gray shorts no less - with Mary Martin in full costume.It is one of the treasures of my childhood and Peter Pan has always been a favorite of mine.By the way, there is/was a cast recording of Peter Pan - I want to say that it was on RCA Victor records, since of course, RCA owned NBC.
Mary Martin embodies Peter Pan so gracefully and whimsically that I cannot imagine this character as played by anyone else.
It should be clarified that the wonderful Mary Martin actually did "Peter Pan" on television three different times, and I'm relatively sure that only the last version is available on home video.
(There are production stills of all the performances, and Martin's costume and hair color are slightly different each time.) It was finally videotaped, in 'living color,' in 1960, and if you are as old as I am, you may remember the network re-broadcasts always being preceded by the blooming NBC peacock.
This movie is one of the best versions of the Peter Pan story that I have ever seen I've been watching it for years and now at the age of 20 I still find myself singing the songs and tapping my toe to the beat.It was done in the traditional theater way, with a woman playing Peter Pan, but Mary Martin did such a wonderful job you never think of her as a 'girl'.
This makes a great play for children with active imaginations to watch and which parents can sit through without hitting themselves over the head with an empty video box.
A great score, a great cast -- what more is there to say.Yes, Miss Mary Virginia Martin was 40-something when she played the title part, all the while introducing the world to The Sound of Music on Broadway, and she played THAT splendidly as well.As this great story marks its centennial in 2004, it would be a coup to offer the 1960 version on DVD.Just think lovely thoughts..
My earliest recollection of seeing PETER PAN (which, like Marta's, was second only to THE WIZARD OF OZ as the "movie" of my childhood) must have been sometime around 63 or 64 (when I was only 6 or 7)--I'm not even sure of the year, maybe earlier, maybe later, but I remember watching it on my aunt and uncle's TV in their basement family room and clapping for Tinker Bell.
Despite the primitive video tape recording of the picture and sound, this version of PETER PAN still enchants me at age 43 (well, in two weeks, anyway).
What is more interesting to me is that when I finally had the opportunity to direct the music for a stage production (in 1994, and with a wonderful actor named Kathy St. George as Peter) it was that the adults in the audience were the ones most caught up in the spell--but the children, too, "believed."  I'm watching the video now and Tink's about to die, so I better get ready to show my belief in her..
In my opinion, this film should not be missed by any child, adolescent, or adult who likes music and loved J.M. Barrie's masterpiece novel.
Unlike the animated Disney film made seven years earlier (also a classic musical), this film follows the original story more closely, as adapted by Jerome Robbins for the stage.
Peter Pan is portrayed by a woman because any male old enough to play the role would have gone through puberty -- thus no longer looking or sounding like a 10 year old.
The teaming of Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard as Pan and Hook, along with the wonderful songs in this musical version, make this production a fondlyremembered treat -- one which ought to be available on video and DVD formodern viewers.
It'sinteresting that the most current version of Peter Pan (2003) and this 1960version (a TV production of the 1955 Broadway musical in which Ritchard won a best supporting actor Tony for his role as Hook/Darling) are similar in plot and tone, both being based on Barrie's play, and each standing well above both the lightweight 1953 Disney animated film and the other more recent treatmentssuch as "Hook".
This movie is a delightful Broadway play with Mary Martin as Peter Pan. It features cute little songs and dances, not to mention the humorous lines of Cyril Ritchard.
I grew up watching the video and I always enjoyed it, even if Peter Pan was a woman and Tiger Lily was a blonde, blue-eyed girl.
That is not to knock off Martin's in any way, it has great nostalgic value, the accents are more natural-sounding(pretty much the only real criticism with the Rigby version was how overdone some of the accents were) and does a marginally better job of bringing out the inner child within you.
The script is filled with snappy lines, it's often hilarious especially with Hook and Smee- and with Tiger Lily's priceless "Famous Indian proverb, when in doubt RUUNNNNNNN!"- and it seemed like everybody in the cast thought so, while the choreography is full of energy(like the Rigby version especially with the Pirates and the Indians) and the whole storytelling has a light-hearted charm.
Cyril Ritchard and particularly Mary Martin are what you'll remember most about this Peter Pan. Ritchard is both funny and menacing, the funniest parts at their best are hilarious though it's not a performance that is played-for-laughs, there are times like in the capture of the children where Hook is quite dangerous.
He also plays Mr Darling, a tradition is for Captain Hook and Mr Darling to be played by the same actor, and he is very convincing at being uptight As Peter, Martin is just wonderful, Cathy Rigby may be more boyish and more athletic but the energy and likability levels between the two actresses are equal.
For a 1950's live production originally telecast in black and white (or was that because we did not own an expensive color TV back in the 60's?) my baby boomer childhood has wonderful memories of this simpler time when the family would gather around our black and white 24 inch television and be entertained by Peter Pan somehow magically flying out of the Darling families bedroom window with the children in tow.
It is a time in my imagination that left me as a six year old just breathless.I have subsequently viewed Peter Pan many more times and in the decades that have followed I have passed the original Peter Pan dream VHS film on to my own children.
The musical score with Mary Martin playing Peter Pan and Cyril Ritchard playing the dual role as the mean spirited (and for its time) quite scary Captain Hook as well as the Darling families father was just priceless and with so many exciting musical numbers to wow children of all ages.Quite simply television should bring back the luster that has seemed to have been forgotten by television programs such as this fine live musical telecast.
If you ever get a chance to view this telecast which is rarely seen on television anymore I suggest that you gather up the family regardless of their age shut off your cell phones, computers, IPads, PlayStations and XBoxes and watch this original 1950's musical version of Peter Pan in its purest black and white form.
Your family will enjoy the musical score and dance sequences, Tinkerbell's luminous glow, the tick-tocking clock that resides in the crocodiles stomach and constantly scares the nasty Captain Hook, and the children of Neverland wishing to find adoptive parents that will love them as much as our parents loved us.Exposing your children to a magical performance such as this Peter Pan version is worthy of a five ***** star perfect 10 out of 10 rating..
If you can look past that, watch the performance of Martin, with her eternal optimism and Ritchard, dancing and prancing with that glint in his eye, up to no good.
Now of course not much beats the original animated version that Disney made, but for a movie with real people, it is the best one out there.
It is a great version of Peter Pan. Has some good songs in it as well!.
Having taped it off the air in 1989, and finally played it back tonight, that makes 3 (or 4!) times I've seen it.I probably listened to the LP more times than any other version, so I'm no doubt coming to this from an unusual place.
I used to wonder about the Disney film, as, being so familiar with the Mary Martin stage play, the promos for the Disney film just seemed "wrong" somehow.
I came to love the Disney film on its own merits, though I recognized, especially when I was able to tape the stage play, the big differences.I see it this way...
Teenagers are at that stage of growing up where growing up and being "cool" makes them forget childhood innocence-- but when you get old enough to have kids of your own, if you're lucky, you can remember it all over again.I guess one does go thru "different rooms" as one goes thru life-- because, having gone to quite a number of live stage shows in the 1990s, I found this MUCH easier to watch now than I did back in '89!
He liked it but he likes the Disney animated show better.The technical quality of this VHS version from GoodTimes Home Video is only fair.
Although I loved it as a kid, it disappoints me now.Mary Martin is good but Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook is fantastic!Even as a kid, I never did understand why they had a woman play Peter.
This version of Peter Pan was, in my opinion, better than the Disney animation.
Peter Pan is played by Mary Martin, and the film is made like a theatre production.
It was much more enjoyable to watch than the animation, although I never really enjoyed the story of Peter Pan and the lost boys.
Mary Martin played Peter Pan on television many times.
The version of Peter Pan that we have available to the public today was done in 1960 and done on video.
It should be noted that Mary Martin and her husband had this version of Peter Pan written for them to do on Broadway, according to her autobiography.
Mary was also in the original Broadway production of "The Sound of Music", but by the time the movie was made she was considered to old.
While she was doing "The Sound of Music" on Broadway, she was in rehearsals for the stage version "Peter Pan".
This is however taped on a soundstage and it is a first class production.Mary Martin plays "Peter Pan".
She the originator of the musical adaption so all other versions will always be compared to Mary Martin!
There is no school but lots of danger including the pirate "Captain Hook" who is out to get Peter Pan at any cost!The other television adaptations had "Ashlie Williams" and "Cathy Rigby".
One aim of the series was to broadcast expensive color spectaculars to promote the new color television system developed by NBC's parent company RCA.On March 7, 1955, NBC presented Peter Pan live as part of Producers' Showcase (with nearly all of the show's original cast) as the first full-length Broadway production on color TV.
Both of these broadcasts were produced live and in color, but only black-and-white kinescope recordings survive.Peter Pan was restaged on December 8, 1960, this time in a 100-minute version rather than 90 minutes (not counting the commercials), and with a slightly different cast because the original children had outgrown their roles.
Peter Foy re-created the signature flying sequences he had staged for the 1954 Broadway production and the two Producers' Showcase broadcasts.
Gone also was the intertitle bearing the credit Peter Pan: Act III, but not the other intertitle credits, so that the show seemed to be performed in three acts, just as in the stage version..
This re-telling of the Pan story, set on stage with Mary Martin portraying the rambunctious youngster, has a certain charm that is all its own.Unlike some Pan stories that may take themselves a bit too seriously, this edition is made for children and it shows in nearly every scene.
Both Captain Hook and his merry band of pirates and the Tiger Lilly-led Indians are played for slapstick/silly humor, while Martin's Pan and Wendy are quite whimsical themselves.Yet, despite the child-oriented humor and content, adults can also enjoy the film for the exact same reasons.
Instead of playing like, say, a typical Disney film (where little tidbits are thrown in every once in awhile to keep parents moderately entertained) this production will charm adults on the sole premise of its youthful exuberance.Perhaps the highlight of the entire Pan experience, though, are the musical numbers (especially those featuring Cyril Ritchard's Hook).
I don't even have to re-watch Peter Pan to rate it; all that counts is experience of a small child sitting in front of a black and white TV more than 50 years ago, and that child rated it as perfect, right up there with Captain Kangaroo, Shari Lewis, and the annual broadcast of The Wizard of Oz. Peter Pan was written and performed for children, and with the advent of television, it reached into the hearts of virtually all baby-boomers like me.
But when I put on that old 1960 television version of Peter Pan and listened to Mary Martin sing some of those songs, I was transported back to my childhood home, the snug happiness of a good, old-fashioned protected childhood of the 50s and 60s.
How many times I had seen this version of Peter Pan on TV.
To me, THIS is Peter Pan, not the Disney version or any other movie.
Sometimes adults can sure act like little children, and not in a good way.As to the video quality, I can't complain because I, like 99 percent of America, watched this originally on a B&W set, with far less detail than today's digital video.
And that is the the strength of this version.There is a reason for adults to watch this: Mary Martin.
I agree that the lead character of "Peter Pan" was masterfully played by the late Mary Martin.
Also they were thrilled with the movie magic of flight, which was pretty good, considering this was a televised stage play from over 40 years ago.
It's a badly done play of Peter Pan with really bad special effects.
Mary Martin was wonderful in the lead, and even at 6 I could accept her as Peter Pan.
Now I have it on video and my little three year old daughter watches it, the Disney original cartoon version, and the newer one with Cathy Rigby, all over and over again.
I find that hard to believe, considering she performed Peter Pan many times.
Like so many others, I was a young thing when I saw Mary Martin's PETER PAN for the first time.
Years later, this is one film that still remains near and dear to my heart.Out of all of the adaptations of PETER PAN I have ever seen (including the Disney version which is also a classic), this is my favorite.
And Mary Martin - I don't even know if I can put into words how incredible she is in the role of Peter.
PETER PAN is a filmed version of a STAGE MUSICAL, folks.
After all, that is what Peter Pan is really all about.All in all, this is an amazing film, and I have no doubt in my mind that even though youngsters today have been brought up with films using phenomenal CGI technology and such, they will fall in love with the beautiful and catchy music, the energetic choreography (by Jerome Robbins, no less!), and the story of a boy who could never grow up..
The best production ever, due to the charismatic Mary Martin and Cyril Ritchard as Peter Pan and Capt.
Yes, peter pan is a girl in this, and yes, they do sing quite a bit, but when i first saw this, i was hooked.
i always liked peter pan, since he could fly and never go old and play with indians and pirates forever and ever.
so, enjoy the real old version of peter pan, and even though the effects stink, try to overlook it and see the music, because some of those tunes are kinda catchy.
Growing up in the 80s we had two real versions (possibly only two) of peter pan.
Walt Disney's original, and Mary Martin play taped "peter pan" with Cyril Ritchard.
Since then, I've seen this on stage live with Cathy Rigby, took a trip into how Peter got the hook on the notorious captain in a Broadway prequel, and took on an adventure with Barrie himself in his own Broadway musical.