The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957 film)
Encyclopedia
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is an American ninety-minute musical color television special
originally shown by NBC
on November 26, 1957, as their Thanksgiving Day offering for that year. Based on the famous poem of the same name
by Robert Browning
and using the music of Edvard Grieg
arranged by Pete King
with special lyrics by Hal Stanley and Irving Taylor
, it starred Van Johnson
, Claude Rains
(in his only singing and dancing role), Lori Nelson
, Jim Backus
, and Kay Starr
. It was directed by Broadway veteran Bretaigne Windust
. In a direct nod to Browning's poem, nearly all of the dialogue in The Pied Piper of Hamelin was written in rhyme
, much of it directly lifted from the poem.
Unusually for a made-for-TV family special of the era, it was not presented live but on actual motion picture film, and the color process used was not NBC's usual "living color", but three-strip Technicolor
, which had previously been used on television only in the one-hour science specials Our Mr. Sun
and Hemo the Magnificent
. Theatrical prints, however, erroneously bill the film as having been made in Eastman Color.
The program was successful enough to be repeated in 1958 and then syndicated to many local stations, where it was rerun annually for many years, in the tradition of other holiday specials. The film was briefly released to movie theatres in 1966, where it did not fare nearly as well.
Years later, Van Johnson's performance as the Pied Piper was still so fondly remembered that he played a Piper-like criminal called "The Minstrel" on the 1966 TV series Batman
.
) is first spotted working magic in Hamelin by a disabled boy, Paul, and playing his signature tune In the Hall of the Mountain King
. Paul tells his best friend, the schoolteacher Truson (=true son), also played by Johnson, but Truson is skeptical.
The town of Hamelin has entered a competition in order to win a banner from the King. To this end, the Mayor (Claude Rains
) exhorts the people to work incessantly, even the children, to the extent that they are denied school and play. Truson protests, but his protests go unheeded by the arrogant Mayor. As part of a competition between several villages, the Mayor and his cabinet plan to construct golden chimes to impress the King's Emissary, who is due to pay a visit to Hamelin. But their efforts are temporarily halted when the town is invaded by rats, the result of a plague in the neighboring city of Hamelout.
It is then that the Piper magically appears before the Mayor and his councilors. (He can appear inside the council room although the door is bolted.) Asking to be paid all the money in the town's treasury, (fifty-thousand guilders) he offers to rid the town of the rats. An unusual element is introduced into the story here: whenever the Piper plays a happy tune for the children, only Truson and the children can hear it. When he plays the sinister-sounding version of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and leads the rats to their doom in the river, the children quickly fall asleep and only the material-minded adults, such as the Mayor, can hear the music.
The Piper rids the town of the rats, but rather than simply being paid, he is tricked by the Mayor and his Cabinet into an agreement he did not bargain for. He must deposit a certain amount of money as a guarantee that the rats will not return, and if they do, he must return the rest of the money that he has been paid. Furious, the Piper leaves without his money, and the Mayor plots to use the gold to construct the chimes. Truson, who is in love with the Mayor's daughter Mara (Lori Nelson
) is thrown in jail for speaking out against this injustice. The Mayor plans to marry off Mara to the King's Emissary (Jim Backus
), but at this point, the Piper takes his revenge. Playing a happy variation on "In the Hall of the Mountain King", he leads the children of Hamelin away and into a beautiful kingdom concealed by a cave which magically opens to let the children in. But Paul is accidentally left behind, after he falls while trying to catch up with the other children and the cave closes before he can pass through.
The rest of the plot concerns the resolution of the Truson-Mara love story, the attempts of the adults to bring back the children, the Mayor's repentance, and the Piper's forgiveness. A happy ending was added to the poem in order to keep the program a family special.
, many of Grieg's most famous pieces are heard here, albeit with lyrics. The first movement of the Piano Concerto in A Minor serves as the tune for the lovers' duet; Wedding-Day at Troldhaugen
serves as a work song for the townsfolk of Hamelin, and Grieg's Peer Gynt
music is used for most of the other musical numbers.
Peter Pan
had been rousing successes, gaining the largest audience for a TV special to date, and had been followed in turn by the first telecast of MGM's 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
(starring Judy Garland
), and the first, live version of Rodgers and Hammerstein
's only musical for television, Cinderella (1957), starring Julie Andrews
. Both The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella also drew large audiences on television. And only a month before the telecast of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, NBC had presented live a live-action musical adaptation
of Pinocchio
, with Mickey Rooney
as the puppet who longs to be a real boy. In 1958, a live musical version of Hansel and Gretel
, with Barbara Cook
and Red Buttons, would also be televised. Both Pinocchio and Hansel and Gretel boasted scores by Alec Wilder
. Cole Porter
would follow in 1958 with Aladdin
, starring Sal Mineo
and Basil Rathbone
, and that same year, ABC, with the help of Serge Prokofiev and Ogden Nash
, would combine the elements of musical comedy, marionette presentations, and classical music in a successful special entitled "Art Carney
Meets Peter and the Wolf
".
retailers.
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
originally shown by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
on November 26, 1957, as their Thanksgiving Day offering for that year. Based on the famous poem of the same name
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
by Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
and using the music of Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
arranged by Pete King
Pete King (composer)
Pete King was a prolific American music composer and arranger of easy listening music and film soundtracks...
with special lyrics by Hal Stanley and Irving Taylor
Irving Taylor (songwriter)
Irving Taylor , was a Jewish-American composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He enlisted in the US Navy the day after Pearl Harbor...
, it starred Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
, Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
(in his only singing and dancing role), Lori Nelson
Lori Nelson
Lori Nelson is an American actress born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on August 15, 1933. She began as a performer, dancing at the young age of 4, as well as winning a Little Miss America title. Many of her early auditions were unsuccessful. However, in 1952, she made it into her first role as Marjie...
, Jim Backus
Jim Backus
James Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...
, and Kay Starr
Kay Starr
Kay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
. It was directed by Broadway veteran Bretaigne Windust
Bretaigne Windust
Bretaigne Windust was a French-born theatre, film, and television director.-Early life:He was born Ernest Bretaigne Windust in Paris, France, the son of English violin virtuoso Ernest Joseph Windust and singer Elizabeth Amory Day from New York City...
. In a direct nod to Browning's poem, nearly all of the dialogue in The Pied Piper of Hamelin was written in rhyme
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
, much of it directly lifted from the poem.
Unusually for a made-for-TV family special of the era, it was not presented live but on actual motion picture film, and the color process used was not NBC's usual "living color", but three-strip Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
, which had previously been used on television only in the one-hour science specials Our Mr. Sun
Our Mr. Sun
Our Mr. Sun is a one-hour American 1956 television film in Technicolor written, produced, and directed by Frank Capra. It is a documentary that explains how the Sun works and how it also plays a huge part in human life. It was first televised by CBS in 1956.The film starred Frank Baxter as "Dr...
and Hemo the Magnificent
Hemo the Magnificent
Hemo the Magnificent is a one-hour Technicolor made-for-television educational film, released in 1957 by Bell Laboratories and directed by Frank Capra, and first telecast by CBS. It details the workings of the circulatory system...
. Theatrical prints, however, erroneously bill the film as having been made in Eastman Color.
The program was successful enough to be repeated in 1958 and then syndicated to many local stations, where it was rerun annually for many years, in the tradition of other holiday specials. The film was briefly released to movie theatres in 1966, where it did not fare nearly as well.
Years later, Van Johnson's performance as the Pied Piper was still so fondly remembered that he played a Piper-like criminal called "The Minstrel" on the 1966 TV series Batman
Batman (TV series)
Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...
.
Plot summary
The Pied Piper (Van JohnsonVan Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
) is first spotted working magic in Hamelin by a disabled boy, Paul, and playing his signature tune In the Hall of the Mountain King
In the Hall of the Mountain King
In the Hall of the Mountain King is a piece of orchestral music composed by Edvard Grieg for the sixth scene of Act II in Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt, which premiered in Christiania on February 24, 1876....
. Paul tells his best friend, the schoolteacher Truson (=true son), also played by Johnson, but Truson is skeptical.
The town of Hamelin has entered a competition in order to win a banner from the King. To this end, the Mayor (Claude Rains
Claude Rains
Claude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
) exhorts the people to work incessantly, even the children, to the extent that they are denied school and play. Truson protests, but his protests go unheeded by the arrogant Mayor. As part of a competition between several villages, the Mayor and his cabinet plan to construct golden chimes to impress the King's Emissary, who is due to pay a visit to Hamelin. But their efforts are temporarily halted when the town is invaded by rats, the result of a plague in the neighboring city of Hamelout.
It is then that the Piper magically appears before the Mayor and his councilors. (He can appear inside the council room although the door is bolted.) Asking to be paid all the money in the town's treasury, (fifty-thousand guilders) he offers to rid the town of the rats. An unusual element is introduced into the story here: whenever the Piper plays a happy tune for the children, only Truson and the children can hear it. When he plays the sinister-sounding version of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and leads the rats to their doom in the river, the children quickly fall asleep and only the material-minded adults, such as the Mayor, can hear the music.
The Piper rids the town of the rats, but rather than simply being paid, he is tricked by the Mayor and his Cabinet into an agreement he did not bargain for. He must deposit a certain amount of money as a guarantee that the rats will not return, and if they do, he must return the rest of the money that he has been paid. Furious, the Piper leaves without his money, and the Mayor plots to use the gold to construct the chimes. Truson, who is in love with the Mayor's daughter Mara (Lori Nelson
Lori Nelson
Lori Nelson is an American actress born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on August 15, 1933. She began as a performer, dancing at the young age of 4, as well as winning a Little Miss America title. Many of her early auditions were unsuccessful. However, in 1952, she made it into her first role as Marjie...
) is thrown in jail for speaking out against this injustice. The Mayor plans to marry off Mara to the King's Emissary (Jim Backus
Jim Backus
James Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...
), but at this point, the Piper takes his revenge. Playing a happy variation on "In the Hall of the Mountain King", he leads the children of Hamelin away and into a beautiful kingdom concealed by a cave which magically opens to let the children in. But Paul is accidentally left behind, after he falls while trying to catch up with the other children and the cave closes before he can pass through.
The rest of the plot concerns the resolution of the Truson-Mara love story, the attempts of the adults to bring back the children, the Mayor's repentance, and the Piper's forgiveness. A happy ending was added to the poem in order to keep the program a family special.
Differences from poem
The poem's storyline was greatly embellished in order to pad it out to ninety minutes. The characters of Truson, Mara, and the King's Emissary, as well as several bit roles, were invented for the film, as were the happy ending and the storyline about the town entering a competition to win a banner from the King. In the poem, however, the mayor still tries to trick the Piper over the payment for ridding the town of rats. In Browning's original poem, and in the original legend on which the poem was based, the children never do come back.Cast
- Van JohnsonVan JohnsonVan Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
as Pied Piper / Truson - Claude RainsClaude RainsClaude Rains was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned 66 years. He was known for many roles in Hollywood films, among them the title role in The Invisible Man , a corrupt senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , Mr...
as Mayor of Hamelin - Lori NelsonLori NelsonLori Nelson is an American actress born in Santa Fe, New Mexico on August 15, 1933. She began as a performer, dancing at the young age of 4, as well as winning a Little Miss America title. Many of her early auditions were unsuccessful. However, in 1952, she made it into her first role as Marjie...
as Mara - Jim BackusJim BackusJames Gilmore "Jim" Backus was a radio, television, film, and voice actor. Among his most famous roles are the voice of Mr...
as King's Emissary - Kay StarrKay StarrKay Starr is an American pop and jazz singer who enjoyed considerable success in the 1940s and 50s. She is best remembered for introducing two songs that became #1 hits in the 1950s, "Wheel of Fortune" and "The Rock And Roll Waltz"....
as John's Mother
Music
As in the 1944 Broadway musical Song of NorwaySong of Norway
Song of Norway is an operetta written in 1944 by Robert Wright and George Forrest, adapted from the music of Edvard Grieg and the book by Milton Lazarus and Homer Curran...
, many of Grieg's most famous pieces are heard here, albeit with lyrics. The first movement of the Piano Concerto in A Minor serves as the tune for the lovers' duet; Wedding-Day at Troldhaugen
Lyric Pieces
Lyric Pieces is a collection of 66 short pieces for solo piano written by Edvard Grieg. They were published in 10 volumes, from 1867 to 1901...
serves as a work song for the townsfolk of Hamelin, and Grieg's Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt
Peer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
music is used for most of the other musical numbers.
Soundtrack
- Van Johnson (dubbed by an anonymous flute soloist) and offscreen orchestra conducted by Pete King - "In The Hall of the Mountain King" (Music by Edvard Grieg, orchestral arrangement adapted from Grieg's music for Peer GyntPeer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
) - Doodles Weaver and chorus - "Work Song" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen", lyrics by Irving TaylorIrving Taylor (songwriter)Irving Taylor , was a Jewish-American composer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He enlisted in the US Navy the day after Pearl Harbor...
) - Van Johnson - "How Can I Tell You?" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Piano Concerto in A Minor", lyrics by Irving Taylor)
- Claude Rains, Doodles Weaver, Stanley Adams and Councilors - "Prestige" (Music by Edvard Grieg, lyrics by Irving Taylor)
- Van Johnson and Villagers - "Feats of the Piper" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Anitra's Dance" from Peer Gynt, lyrics by Irving Taylor)
- "Morning Waltz" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Morning Mood" from Peer Gynt adapted and conducted by Pete King)
- Van Johnson - "Flim Flam Floo" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from one of the "Norwegian Dances", lyrics by Irving Taylor)
- Van Johnson - "Fool's Gold" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Solvejg's Song" from Peer Gynt, lyrics by Irving Taylor)
- Lori Nelson - "My Heart Will Fly To Heaven" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Wedding Day at Toldhaugen", lyrics by Irving Taylor)
- Villagers - "The Emissary's Song" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Arabian Dance" from Peer Gynt)
- Van Johnson and Lori Nelson - "How Can I Tell You?"
- Kay Starr - "A Mother's Lament" (Music by Edvard Grieg adapted from "Aase's Death" from Peer Gynt, lyrics by Irving Taylor)
Production history
The film was made in the wake of several then-recent telecasts of musical fantasies aimed at children and shown as specials. The first live telecasts (in 1955 and 1956) of the Mary MartinMary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1954 musical)
Peter Pan is a musical adaptation of J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan and Barrie's own novelization of it, Peter and Wendy. The music is mostly by Mark "Moose" Charlap, with additional music by Jule Styne, and most of the lyrics were written by Carolyn Leigh, with additional lyrics by Betty...
had been rousing successes, gaining the largest audience for a TV special to date, and had been followed in turn by the first telecast of MGM's 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
(starring Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
), and the first, live version of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's only musical for television, Cinderella (1957), starring Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
. Both The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella also drew large audiences on television. And only a month before the telecast of The Pied Piper of Hamelin, NBC had presented live a live-action musical adaptation
Pinocchio (1957 TV-musical)
The 1957 television production of Pinocchio was a live musical version starring Mickey Rooney in the title role of the puppet who wishes to become a real boy. Based on the novel by Carlo Collodi which also inspired the classic Walt Disney animated film, this version featured a now-forgotten new...
of Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
, with Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
as the puppet who longs to be a real boy. In 1958, a live musical version of Hansel and Gretel
Hansel and Gretel
"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...
, with Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
and Red Buttons, would also be televised. Both Pinocchio and Hansel and Gretel boasted scores by Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder
Alec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...
. Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
would follow in 1958 with Aladdin
Aladdin (TV special)
Aladdin was a 1958 musical fantasy written especially for television with a book by S.J. Perelman and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, telecast in color on the DuPont Show of the Month by CBS. It was Porter's very last musical score. The musical was later presented on stage in London, premiering...
, starring Sal Mineo
Sal Mineo
Salvatore "Sal" Mineo, Jr. , was an American film and theatre actor, best known for his performance as John "Plato" Crawford opposite James Dean in the film Rebel Without a Cause...
and Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
, and that same year, ABC, with the help of Serge Prokofiev and Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
, would combine the elements of musical comedy, marionette presentations, and classical music in a successful special entitled "Art Carney
Art Carney
Arthur William Matthew “Art” Carney was an American actor in film, stage, television and radio. He is best known for playing Ed Norton, opposite Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden in the situation comedy The Honeymooners....
Meets Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf
Peter and the Wolf , Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story , spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra....
".
Home media
The film is now available on DVD, though there has never been an authorized release, because the movie is now in the public domain. The DVD was re-issued in 2004 by Digiview Productions. It can be found at local Dollar TreeDollar Tree
Dollar Tree, Inc. is an American chain of discount variety stores that sells every item for $1.00 or less. A Fortune 500 company, Dollar Tree is headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia and operates 4,010 stores throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Its stores are supported by a nationwide...
retailers.