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NOVEMBER 28, 1952
TOE
DAILY
Editorial
MM
Andersen.-. . by Goldwyn
By CHESTER B. BAHN =
THE PRODUCTION brilliance of Samuel Goldwyn, which if anything has grown the brighter with the passing of the years, was never more magnificently in evidence, never more admirably employed than in his latest art work, "Hans Christian Andersen."
This fairy tale in rich-hued Technicolor, which has Danny Kaye in the title role giving a warmly human performance sans the clowning that has been his cinematic forte and which has one of France's most talented ballerinas, Jeanmaire, not only dancing divinely but surprising you as a talented actress and singer, is as festive as the holiday season which it enhances.
And don't let the first paragraph reference to art work — and the term is used advisedly — mislead you. "Hans Christian Andersen" is simon-pure box office, and if Goldwyn does not only recoup his investment of millions, (representing his own money, incidentally), but a very tidy profit as well, this pulse-taker among many, many others will be very surprised, indeed.
IT'S TRITE admittedly to say that "Hans Christian Andersen," with its melodious Frank Loesser score, its quartet of finally
done imaginative ballets, its opulent, visually intoxicating settings, its tender story, honestly fanciful; its commendable performances by the hand-picked cast, and its excellent direction by Charles Vidor, is a picture for all ages, all audiences.
But how else do you say just that, anyway?
Obviously, "Hans Christian Andersen" had that fullest measure of loving care which Goldwyn ever gives to his productions. Don't confuse that with the millions expended in the picture's making. There have been other productions as costly in the past with less happy screen results. Money helps, certainly, but with a picture as with a child — and a picture is a producer's brainchild — it's the loving care which really counts.
ASA reporter's footnote, it might be in ** order to advise that "Hans Christian Andersen" is by way of giving Broadway a needed "shot in the arm," with business at the Criterion and the Paris at peak. The public and the New York critics patently think alike about the picture. And when you find the mass-audience New York Daily News (four stars, if you please) and the class-audience New York Times in agreement on a picture's merit, you're in, gentlemen, you're in.