The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm

Plot synopsis:
The story focuses on the Grimm brothers, Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) and Jacob (Karlheinz Böhm), and is biographical and fantastical at the same time. They are working to finish a history for a local Duke (Oscar Homolka), though Wilhelm is more interested in collecting fairy tales and often spends their money to hear them from locals. Tales such as "The Dancing Princess" and "The Cobbler and the Elves" are integrated into the main plot. One of the tales is told as an experiment to three children in a book store to see if publishing a collection of fairytales has any merit. Another tale, "The Singing Bone", is told by an old woman (Martita Hunt) in the forest who tells stories to children, while the uninvited Wilhelm secretly listens through an open window. The culmination of this tale involves a jeweled dragon and features the most involved usage of the film's special effects.
Wilhelm loses the manuscript of the Duke's family history while writing down this third story - he is supposed to be collecting additional information for the family history - and the brothers cannot meet their deadline. They are required to pay their rent, which was waived while they worked. As a result of wading through a stream in an effort to retrieve the manuscript (which fell into the water after his briefcase broke open), Wilhelm becomes critically ill with potentially fatal pneumonia. He dreams that at night various fairytale characters come to him, begging him to name them before he dies. In the dream, Russ Tamblyn reprises his role as Tom Thumb from the 1958 film. His fever breaks and Wilhelm recovers completely, continuing his own work while his brother publishes regular books including a history of German grammar and a book on law. Jacob, shaken by his brother's experience, begins to collaborate on the fairy tales with Wilhelm.
They are ultimately invited to receive honorary membership at the Berlin Royal Academy, which makes no mention of the tales in their invitation. Jacob prepares to make a speech deliberately insulting the Academy for snubbing Wilhelm. As their train pulls into the station, hordes of children arrive, chanting, "We want a story!" Wilhelm begins, "Once upon a time, there were two brothers." The children cheer, and the film ends with a caption card that reads "…and they lived happily ever after."

Tags: melodrama, fantasy, murder, storytelling, historical fiction

Review:
There are a lot of stars in a lot of stories -- Russ Tamblyn shows off some of the fantastic aerobic dancing he displayed in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."  If only they could have come up with a more worthy opponent for their lovely stop motion dragon than Buddy Hackett (who, on the flip side, makes for an unusual ghost).
You know today that the two brothers wrote on two desks side by side to accommodate the cinerama screen--yet it looks so much better visually.
The art direction and the puppet/animation sequences were really topnotch--who cares if there was a car visible in one shot!In short, this is an ideal film for family viewing and the studios should consider re-releasing it for school viewing.
While it's been encouraging to see a number of George Pal's sci-fi and fantasy classics finally come to DVD, THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM is one of many still waiting to debut in the digital format (along with HOUDINI, ATLANTIS: THE LOST CONTINENT, a complete PUPPETOONS collection, etc..) With Terry Gilliam's new THE BROTHERS GRIMM film in theaters, it would seem like the timing would be perfect for such a release.Although available on VHS for some time, the tape doesn't do the film justice.
With cast and crew members such as Russ Tamblyn (who provided commentary for Pal's TOM THUMB DVD) and stop-motion animator Jim Danforth still around, it would be nice to see Pal's fairy tale film get the deluxe DVD treatment, with the insight of surviving participants giving us a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie..
Back when it first was out I never did get around to seeing The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm and it should be seen in the theater rather than a formatted VHS version.
This was indeed a film for which Cinerama was definitely suited.During the Fifties a whole lot of the Grimm stories were used in a shortlived series hosted by the grown up Shirley Temple entitled Shirley Temple's storybook.
I'm not sure if these in fact are the real Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm as played by Laurence Harvey and Karl Boehm.
Wilhelm is the married one, in fact married to the lovely Claire Bloom, with two small children and it's those kids who keep him interested in German folklore and tales of such.
The more serious minded Jacob, scholar, historian, and linguist would like to marry Barbara Eden, but that ain't happening unless the brothers finish the dynastic history they've been commissioned to write by Duke Oscar Homolka.
And Jacob can't keep Wilhelm's mind on the business at hand.The real story of the brothers is merely a plot device on which to hang cinematic presentation of three of the Grimm fairy tales and the presence of a lot of the others during a delirious fever sustained by Laurence Harvey.
The regular story is directed by Henry Levin, but George Pal who probably got the biggest budget in his career to utilize in The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm gets to direct the fairy tale segments.My favorite is The Singing Bone with Terry-Thomas as the braggadocious knight and Buddy Hackett as his put upon squire and their encounter with a dragon in a cave.
That is George Pal and Cinerama at their very best.Don't expect a whole lot from this film, it's not deep, it was meant for the kid market.
Amazing how blockbusters and special format pics always seemed to have accompanying booklets...or they did here in NZ at least.If I was to view this now in some small screen format it might indeed seem corny and clumsy and dull but let me say that in three eye cinerama it was a sumptuous feast for a ten or so year old and I reckon if I was to see it again in those circumstances I would still be spellbound.
This is a well made entertaining little movie, told in a wonderful fairytale kind of way and with a great atmosphere, that makes you feel like a child again.This movie had all the potential to become a real great and classic children movie but unfortunately the movie makes some bad choices.
The whole story of the brother Grimm is perhaps not the most interesting told one (especially not for children) and its not as wonderful and fairytale like as the actual fairy tales told in this movie.
And the brothers Grimm have written some of the most marvelous and best known fairy tales but yet this movie decides to use some lesser known and less great fairy tales ('The Dancing Princess', 'The Cobbler and the Elves' and 'The Singing Bone').
It's kept all perfectly childish and it ensures that it never ever becomes too scary for the young ones.The movie is filled with some wonderful and lovable characters and they're being played by some good actors.
Some supporting roles are there for Terry-Thomas, Buddy Hackett and Billy Barty among others.The movie was made filmed in 3-camera Cinerama.
On the small screen it just doesn't look good and it looks like the images on screen are cut in 3 parts but back then movies just weren't made for home release of course.
Considering the lack of attention given to this film by both MGM and Cinerama, I was glad to find an Italian DVD release.
I did not know there are many persons who think this is a better film than "How the West Was Won", it is probably right: there is no propaganda here, no patriotic hymns and the script is tighter: instead of the story of three generations in "HTWWW" (Karl Malden's, Debbie Reynolds' and George Peppard's), in "TWWOTBG" you only have the story of the two Grimm brothers with three of their fairy tales inserted along the biography.
The cast, on the other hand, includes various cult players, as Beulah Bondi, Terry-Thomas, Martita Hunt, Ian Wolfe and Oscar Homolka; popular comedians as Jim Backus, Buddy Hackett and Arnold Stang; young stars of the 60s as Yvette Mimieux, Robert Crawford Jr. and Russ Tamblyn, and good lead players: Laurence Harvey, Karlheinz Böhm, Claire Bloom, Barbara Eden and Walter Slezak.
Visually stunning, with George Pal's wonderful stop-motion animation, but could have used a better script and performance in the lead role..
As with almost any George Pal production, this is visually an eye-catcher and has some wonderful stop-motion animation, as you would expect from Pal. Entertaining at times, the film drags horribly in spots and could have used a better script, which is a bit surprising, as Charles Beaumont was involved.
Three of their fairy tales are dramatized."The Dancing Princess" stars Russ Tamblyn, Jim Backus and Yvette Mimieux.
However there is a long coach ride which makes full use of the three screens in Cinerama and provides some fantastic scenery (even on TV)."The Cobbler and the Elves" stars Harvey and includes a little Puppetoon (stop motion animation) sequence.
It's OK for the kids."The Singing Bone" has Terry-Thomas and Buddy Hackett fighting a very bad stop-motion animation dragon.
As with the first two, it will appeal to kids.This film must be seen in the Cinerama format--that was a short-lived process in which three screens were used to project a full picture along with three projectors running.
The triple screens are used effectively all throughout the film--I can't imagine this working in a pan & scan format.
Luckily, Turner Classic Movies always shows it in that format.It's perfect family entertainment except for a few minor quibbles--at 129 minutes it's a bit too long; there are too many (bad) songs; the dances could be cut and the stop-motion animation is stunningly bad.Still, it's beautiful to look at, the cast is very good (except for Boehm) and the whole picture has a playful quality about it.
How do I get a wide screen version of "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm"?
The fairytale stories are nicely done, the last one is disappointing but nevertheless very enjoyable and harmless.The film required a better script in parts, but the production values certainly make up for it.
The special effects on the whole are good except for the Dragon which isn't very good.Made for CINERAMA screen, the film loses a lot of the impact on the small letterbox screen.Watching this in full frame on your TV will result in you losing 50% of the picture.
The Grimm brothers, Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) and Jacob (Karlheinz Böhm), are working on the local Duke (Oscar Homolka)'s history.
The movie does show "The Dancing Princess", "The Cobbler and the Elves" and "The Singing Bone" as the stories are told by characters in the movie.The 3-camera Cinerama looks beautiful and I can only imagine the visuals coming from all sides.
They are probably better off making a shorter movie with one of the Grimm's tale and try to maximize the visual aspects.
I saw The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm when it was showing at the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles when I was 12 years old.
It instantly became my most favorite movie, especially because of the glorious George Pal animations, the immersive 3-lens Cinerama effect, the presentation of the 3 fairy tales and the heartfelt romance of the Brothers Grimm framing story.
All were perfect elements to enchant an twelve-year old.Last year I was able to see this movie again, restored in its original Cinerama presentation, at a theater in Los Angeles.
Otherwise, it was a very impressive movie, even if the Cinerama doesn't translate to the small screen.
It portrays Wilhelm Grimm sort of like how "Finding Neverland" portrays J.M. Barrie: very focused on a fantasy story, much to the chagrin of the serious-minded people around him.I see that "The Dancing Princess" contains an invisibility cloak years before J.K. Rowling wrote about Harry Potter wearing one.
Russ Tamblyn at first glance looks a little dorky to appear in a fairy tale adaptation, but he ends up playing the role very well.
I recently came upon this on TCM and had to watch it again because this was one of the richly-shot, well-acted, imaginative fairy-tale films that captured my young imagination and really never left me - seeing Russ Tamblyn, Buddy Hackett, the marvelous Terry-Thomas - it was like meeting old friends again.
It was a wonderful kid's film and even after forty years, its charm still captures me.
Of this film's three re-enacted fairy tales, I can recall the first segment's carriage ride and the third segment's dragon cave from when I was little kid, and I remember loving those parts.
The librarian gave me a look that said, "Aren't you a little old for this movie?".Having watched it now, I am impressed by the extensive use of wonderful German locations, including Neuschwanstein Castle, Rothenburg, and so on.
I also wonder what technique was used for the magic cloak of invisibility in the first segment, it looks pretty good.It seems that only the pan-and-scan version is available on video at this time, and the version I saw had a noticeable pair of vertical lines on either side of the image; I had not realized that the original film was in Cinerama with it's three screen projection - I suppose that those lines are the places where the outer two images merge with the center image.
Still, there are many good things about this movie, and if one were to edit out just the fairy tale segments to another video, it would be worthwhile for kids..
The story is about the early days of The Brothers Grimm and how they got inspiration to wright so many wonderful stories.Laurence Harvey gives a good sensitive performance as the brother Willhelm who was more of the dreamer of the two and who almost gives up when he becomes ill during the latter part of the film only to get better when his invented characters come to him in dream form and urge him to get better and continue to wright,which he eventually does.
Also in the film are three separate fairy tales my favourite being the first one The Dancing Princess which contains a lovely dance routine between Russ Tamblyn and Yvette Mimuex, Mr Tamblyn is full of charm and shows off his clever gymnastic skills in a story which is also humorous and has some clever special effects such as the invisible cloak.The Singing Bone starring Terry Thomas is also very humorous although the dragon doesn't look scary in the least,but then this was probably intentional as the story is made for children.
The three stories are all very colourful and not overlong and would suit a young child's attention span.This is definitely a film that can be enjoyed by all ages,I've often heard that this film was so much better on the big screen,that i can well believe although i think the TCM version is good ma by not as good but it will do.
When I was eight years old, this film was re-released with - of all things - "How The West Was Won"!
At the time HTWWW was my favorite movie but I remembered adoring "Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm" when I saw it as a second feature.
I must have had a cast iron keister, because the nearly six hour playing time of the two movies never bothered me, and I remember going to see it more than once during that release.Over the years, this film has stayed with me - especially the fairytale segments.
In fact, I have often thought about this film but was never able to indulge myself in the nostalgia of reviewing it - until recently.TCM finally played it over the holidays last year and I recorded it on DVR; due to a busy life, I am only now getting down to watching it again.
When I saw the film in theaters it was not in Cinerama format.
The movie boasts an excellent cast, but the directing is uneven, the plot is slow and the special effects are fine for the era in which this movie was made but might bore younger viewers who are used to more sophisticated technology.I started watching the film yesterday, but I'm finding it so laborious that I am having to watch it in segments; I want to finish it to see what it is about this flick that my 8-year-old self found intriguing.
The romance between Barbara Eden and Wilhelm Grimm is downright cringe-worthy.I am sure if I could see this in a theater and in Cinerama, my opinion might be altered, but on a TV screen this film can't hold my interest.
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) was the seventh of the eight films made in the Cinerama process and the first to be released since the last of the travelogues in 1958, a gap of four years.The travelogue motif had been used up: there were no more places in the world to visit worthy of a two hour running time.
So MGM took a chance and set up the process for two all-star, narrative films, one released in 1962 (Grimm), the other (How The West Was Won) the following year in 1963.As back-up MGM filmed Mutiny On The Bounty in a competitive process, Ultra Panavision 70, a single strip process that was comparable in height and width to Cinerama, but lacking the overlapping seam problems and curved screen effects of the latter.
Special note is to be taken of Jim Backus, hilarious as the King in The Dancing Princess episode; Terry-Thomas, equally amusing as the evil knight in The Singing Bone episode, and the charming dancing of Russ Tamblyn and Yvette Mimieux in The Dancing Princess.The score is charming with a jaunty main theme and a catchy up beat number, Ah Oom!, for the elves to sing while making shoes.While the invisibility special effects (The Dancing Princess) are expertly done, the George Pal Puppetoon stop action effects for the elves in The Cobbler and the Elves and the dragon in The Singing Bone are dreadfully out of date and amateurish.
This is badly in need of a digital clean up and restoration if it is to be released on DVD eventually.All in all, this is a charming film for parents with children up to the ages of eight years old.
The film was made using the three projector Cinerama process, which loses something in the translation to a television set, even in letterbox format.
Though it must have been something to see in the theater, the effects used give the audience a "ride" or a sense of motion (most notably in "The Dancing Princess" sequence), these scenes fall flat without a 25 foot radius rounded screen.As for the film's story, the biography is centered around the brothers Grimm, the "big kid" family man Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) and the more serious bachelor Jacob (Karlheinz Böhm).
While both are working on an historical account of the local Duke's (Oscar Homolka; his manservant Gruber is played by Ian Wolfe) family history, Wilhelm keeps trying to convince his brother that they should be capturing children's stories they hear for future generations, before they're lost forever.
During the course of this backdrop story, Wilhelm tells (to children such as his own) or hears (from an old woman played by Martita Hunt) of these fairy tales:The Dancing Princess story is about a King (Jim Backus) that wants to know what his daughter (Yvette Mimieux) is doing every night to wear out her shoes.
Utilizing the cloak, the Woodsman is able to follow her, then appear & dance his way into her heart (wearing a mask), and ultimately win the Princess per the King's promise and (mask-less) even her approval.The Cobbler (also played by Harvey, in makeup that makes him look like Pinocchio's Geppetto) and the Elves story is a touching one about the harried craftsman who's working to complete toy elves for the poor children across the street in time for Christmas.
The two George Pal segments ("The Cobbler and the Elves and The Singing Bone") are well-worth watching, but The Dancing Princess seems a bit less magical, although Russ Tamblin is an athletic dancer!