''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'' is a 1962 American

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction ...

directed by Henry Levin and

George Pal George Pal (born György Pál Marczincsak; ; February 1, 1908 – May 2, 1980) was a Hungarian-American animator, film director and producer, principally associated with the fantasy and science-fiction genres. He became an American citizen after ...

. The latter was the producer and also in charge of the

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

animation. The film was one of the highest-grossing films of 1962. It won one Oscar and was nominated for three additional Academy Awards. Several prominent actors—including

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

, Karlheinz Böhm, Jim Backus,

Barbara Eden Barbara Eden (born Barbara Jean Morehead; August 23, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and producer best known for her starring role as Jeannie in the sitcom '' I Dream of Jeannie'' (1965-1970). Other notable roles include Roslyn Pierce opp ...

, and

Buddy Hackett Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American actor, comedian and singer. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in ''The Music Man'' (1962), Benjy Benjamin in ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Wo ...

—are in the film. It was filmed in the

Cinerama Cinerama is a widescreen process that originally projected images simultaneously from three synchronized 35mm projectors onto a huge, deeply curved screen, subtending 146° of arc. The trademarked process was marketed by the Cinerama corporati ...

process, which was photographed in an arc with three lenses, on a camera that produced three strips of film. Three projectors, in the back and sides of the theatre, produced a panoramic image on a screen that curved 146 degrees around the front of the audience.

Plot

The story focuses on the

Grimm brothers The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among t ...

, Wilhelm and Jacob, and is biographical and fantastical at the same time. They are working to finish a history for a local Duke, though Wilhelm is more interested in collecting

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

s 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 fairy tales has any merit. Another tale, " The Singing Bone", is told by an old woman 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 A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted a ...

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 fairy tale characters come to him, begging him to name them before he dies. Wilhelm's fever breaks, and he recovers completely, continuing his own work while his brother publishes regular books, including a history of German grammar, a book on myths and legends, 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".

Cast

Wilhelm Grimm Wilhelm Carl Grimm (also Karl; 24 February 178616 December 1859) was a German author and anthropologist, and the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, of the literary duo the Brothers Grimm. Life and work Wilhelm was born in February 1786 in Hanau, i ...

/ The Cobbler ("The Cobbler and the Elves") * Karlheinz Böhm -

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of t ...

(as Karl Boehm) *

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles in plays such as ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' ''A Doll's House'', and '' Long Day's Journey into Night'', and has starred in nearly sixty film ...

- Dorothea Grimm *

Walter Slezak Walter Slezak (; 3 May 1902 – 21 April 1983) was an Austrian-born film and stage actor active between 1922 and 1976. He mainly appeared in German films before migrating to the United States in 1930 and performing in numerous Hollywood producti ...

- Stossel *

- Greta Heinrich *

Oskar Homolka Oskar Homolka (August 12, 1898 – January 27, 1978) was an Austrian film and theatre actor, who went on to work in Germany, Britain and America. Both his voice and his appearance fitted him for roles as communist spies or Soviet officials, for w ...

- The Duke (as Oscar Homolka) *

Martita Hunt Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havish ...

- Anna Richter (storyteller) * Betty Garde - Miss Bettenhausen * Bryan Russell - Friedrich Grimm *

Ian Wolfe Ian Marcus Wolfe (November 4, 1896 – January 23, 1992) was an American character actor with around 400 film and television credits. Until 1934, he worked in the theatre. That year, he appeared in his first film role and later television, as a ...

- Gruber * Walter Rilla - Priest *

Yvette Mimieux Yvette Carmen Mimieux (January 8, 1942 – January 18, 2022) was an American film and television actress. Her breakout role was in '' The Time Machine'' (1960). She was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards during her acting career. Early li ...

- The Princess ("The Dancing Princess") * Russ Tamblyn - The Woodsman ("The Dancing Princess")/ Tom Thumb (in Wilhelm's dream) * Jim Backus - The King ("The Dancing Princess") *

Beulah Bondi Beulah Bondi (born Beulah Bondy; May 3, 1889 – January 11, 1981)According to the State of California. ''California Death Index, 1940–1997''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At ...

- The Gypsy ("The Dancing Princess") *

Terry-Thomas Terry-Thomas (born Thomas Terry Hoar Stevens; 10 July 19118 January 1990) was an English character actor and comedian who became internationally known through his films during the 1950s and 1960s. He often portrayed disreputable members of th ...

- Sir Ludwig ("The Singing Bone") *

- Hans ("The Singing Bone") *

Otto Kruger Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor, originally a Broadway matinee idol, who established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as Hitchcock's ''Saboteur''. He also appeared in CBS's ''Perry Mason'' a ...

- The King at Ludwig's Trial ("The Singing Bone") * Arnold Stang - Rumplestiltskin (in Wilhelm's dream) *

Stan Freberg Stan Freberg (born Stanley Friberg; August 7, 1926 – April 7, 2015) was an American actor, author, comedian, musician, radio personality, puppeteer and advertising creative director. His best-known works include "St. George and the Dragonet" ...

Thurl Ravenscroft Thurl Arthur Ravenscroft (; February 6, 1914May 22, 2005) was an American actor and bass singer. He was known as one of the booming voices behind Kellogg's Frosted Flakes animated spokesman Tony the Tiger for more than five decades. He was also ...

and Dal McKennon - The Elves (

Puppetoons Puppetoons is a series of animated puppet films made in Europe (1930s) and in the United States (1940s) by George Pal. They were made using replacement animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets (or puppet heads or limbs) for ...

voices) ("The Cobbler and the Elves") * Peter Whitney - The Giant (uncredited) * Tammy Marihugh - Pauline Grimm *

Cheerio Meredith Cheerio Meredith (born Edwina Lucille Hoffmann; July 12, 1890 – December 25, 1964) was an American character actress. She was described in a 1963 newspaper article as having "a face like a wrinkled rosebud." Early life Meredith was born ...

- Mrs. Von Dittersdorf * Willy Reichert - Painter (uncredited) * Gregory Morton - Michael Dantino

Production

Development

In the mid-1950s, George Pal left Paramount Studios, which had been his base for a number of years. In March 1956, he announced the formation of his own company, Galaxy Pictures, saying he would make six films, including an adaptation of '' The Time Machine'' written by David Duncan; ''Captain Cook'', based on the novel ''Lost Eden''; a film about Atlantis; and ''The Brothers Grimm'', based on a script by David Harmon adapted from a biography of the brothers by Dr Hermann Gerstner. (Pal had bought the screen rights to Gerstner's biography in February 1956 and hired Harmon in March.) Pal signed an agreement with MGM to finance Galaxy's slate, the first film produced being '' Tom Thumb'' (1958), based on a Grimm fairytale. In 1957, Pal announced he wanted ''Grimm'' to follow ''Tom Thumb'' with Alan Young and

Eddie Bracken Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' and '' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from ...

in the leading roles. In April 1958, he signed Mary Brown to do the costumes. However, in May 1958, after discussions with MGM, Pal decided to make '' The Time Machine'' (1960) instead. In August 1959, Pal announced that key roles would be played by Russ Tamblyn, Alan Young, and

. Tamblyn would make the film - which would be shot in Europe - after he got out of the army. In December 1959, Pal was reportedly seeking

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

for a lead role. That month,

was reportedly adding "special material" to the film. In July 1960,

Hedda Hopper Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...

reported that Pal would make the film in America, not Europe. Pal then delayed the film again so that he could make '' Atlantis, the Lost Continent''. In August 1960, it seemed the film would be postponed indefinitely when Pal announced he intended to make ''The Return of the Time Machine''. However, that film was postponed (it would never be made) and, in January 1961, Pal announced ''Grimm'' would definitely be his next film.

Casting

Pal wanted to cast

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

and

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1 ...

as the brothers, but was over-ruled by the studio. In March 1961, MGM reported Edmund Hartmann was working on the final script. In March 1961, Pal confirmed Alan Young would appear in the movie. In April, Laurence Harvey was cast as William Grimm. The same month, Karl Boehm was cast as his brother with

to play his wife. Mimieux wound up playing the dancing princess in the film while

was borrowed from 20th Century Fox to play Boehm's love interest. In addition to playing the Woodsman, Russ Tamblyn also reprises his role as Tom Thumb, from Pal's 1958 film.

Cinerama

''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'' was produced and exhibited in the original three-panel

widescreen process. MGM had signed a deal with Cinerama to make four films that attempted to tell a cohesive story, unlike previous productions, which had all been travelogues. '' How the West Was Won'' would be the first film and, in March 1961, MGM announced ''Grimm'' would be the second. (After these two a single-lens Cinerama was used for narrative films.) George Pal said three fairy tales were chosen which would look good in Cinerama. He also wanted to use lesser-known fairy tales so the audience did not know how they ended: '' The Dancing Princess'', '' The Cobbler and the Elves'' and '' The Singing Bone''.GRIMM ELVES ESCAPE FIRE; CREATORS TO 'LIVE' IN FILM Scheuer, Philip K. ''Los Angeles Times'' 26 Nov. 1961: A3.

Shooting

Pal left for Munich in April 1961, saying he will use "every trick in the books" in the film. "We hope to get some wonderful special effects especially."GEORGE PAL PLANS MOVIE ON GRIMMS: Master of Fantasy Says Film Will 'Use Every Trick' By HOWARD THOMPSON. New York Times 22 Apr 1961: 18 Filming started 1 July 1961 (''How the West Was Won'' started in June.) It took place on location in Bavaria, at Rothenberg and Dinkelsbuel. (Kassel, where the Grimms lived, had been bombed out.) After two months filming in Germany, the unit returned to Hollywood. Henry Levin directed the Grimm brothers sequences while Pal did the fairytale ones.

Reception

Box office

By September 1962, the film had been seen by a million people, 60% of them adults. ''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'' grossed $8,920,615 at the box office, earning $6.5 million in US theatrical rentals. It was the 13th highest-grossing film of 1962.

Critics

* "spectacularly beautiful scenic delights," the three stories have "enchanting, spellbinding moments . . . but also a tendency to drag," "lackluster depiction of the Grimm brothers' lives" - Ben Kubasik, ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and fo ...

'' * "enchanting production," "the story itself will charm the hearts of the young-in-years-and-spirit," "the legends are imaginatively realized on the screen" - Kate Cameron, ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...

Accolades

The film won an Oscar and was nominated for three more: ;Won * Best Costume Design, Color - Mary Wills ;Nominated * Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - George Davis, Edward Carfagno, Henry Grace, Dick Pefferle (lost to John Box,

John Stoll John Stoll (13 December 1913 – 25 June 1990) was a British art director. He won an Academy Award in the category Best Art Direction for the film ''Lawrence of Arabia''. During the 1950s, he worked largely on low-budget British feature fi ...

, and Dario Simoni for ''

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

'') * Best Cinematography, Color - Paul C. Vogel (lost to Freddie Young for ''

'') * Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment - Leigh Harline (lost to Ray Heindorf for ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...

'')

Legacy

Pal wanted to cast Laurence Harvey in the title role of his next film, '' 7 Faces of Dr. Lao'', but wound up using

Tony Randall Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play '' The Odd Couple'' by Neil Si ...

instead.

Preservation status

Original high quality elements for the film are damaged and incomplete, and scattered among various international archives. The original negatives were left neglected with water damage and various other defects. Until 2022, it had been the only film originally shot in Cinerama to remain unrestored. The cost of a full digital scan and restoration of the best surviving elements was estimated by film preservationist Robert A. Harris at between $1 million to $2 million. In an introduction to a ''Cinerama Holiday'' screening on 11 October 2020 at Pictureville, National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, then-ongoing digital restoration work of ''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'' was described, and snippets shown as well as the intention to have it ready for a digital Cinerama screening at the 2021 Widescreen Weekend festival in Bradford. No film print had been planned up to that point due to the prohibitive cost.

Home media

MGM/UA Home Video MGM/UA may refer to: *Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, American film and television production and distribution company **United Artists, American film and television studio, now a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer * MGM/UA Home Video, the home video arm of Met ...

released the film on VHS and LaserDisc in the U.S. in 1989 and 1992, respectively, and on

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diameter typical ...

in Japan in 1997. Since then, other than a

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made a ...

Italian DVD from a low quality source, there have been no further releases on home media. David Strohmeier announced a current restoration of this film, in collaboration with Warner Brothers and Cinerama, Inc. Work began in November 2019. All the damaged elements were repaired and Strohmeier reports the resulting film looks like it was filmed yesterday. Restoration credit is shown over the exit music. The restoration was shown at the Museum of Modern Art on Jan 23, 2022. Warner Archive released the film on Blu-ray March 29, 2022 in a Deluxe 2-Disc Special Edition containing both Smilebox and letterbox versions (like the '' How the West Was Won'' Blu-ray).

Comic book adaptation

* Gold Key: ''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'' (October 1962)

References

External links

* * * * *
Interview with Cinerama expert John Mitchell
* 'The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'' Cinerama trailer"SmileBox" version, simulating the curved-screen effect {{DEFAULTSORT:Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm, The 1962 films 1960s fantasy films 1960s biographical films American children's fantasy films American biographical films 1960s English-language films Films directed by Henry Levin Films with screenplays by Charles Beaumont Biographical films about writers 1960s children's fantasy films Cultural depictions of the Brothers Grimm Films based on Grimms' Fairy Tales Films directed by George Pal Films produced by George Pal Films set in Germany Films set in the 1800s Films set in the 1810s Films shot in Bavaria Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award Films using stop-motion animation Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Musical films based on actual events 1960s stop-motion animated films Films scored by Leigh Harline Films adapted into comics Films based on fairy tales Films with screenplays by William Roberts (screenwriter) 1960s American films