USA, UK, 1972
90m
35mm film, Eastmancolor
mono, English
An American/British fantasy film directed by Jacques Demy.
Plot Summary
The town of Hamelin is overrun with rats, bringing with them the threat of plague. The town authorities call on the services of a young piper who uses his magic flute to lead the rats to their doom. But when the Burgomeister reneges on his deal to pay the piper, he plans his revenge on the town…
Credits
* = uncredited
Crew
Directed by: Jacques Demy
© MCMLXXI [1971] Sagittarius Productions Inc.
Paramount [opening logo] Sagittarius Productions Inc present a Goodtimes Enterprises film
Produced by: David Puttnam and Sanford Lieberson
Associate Producer: Gavrik Losey
Written by: Andrew Birkin, Jacques Demy, Mark Peploe
Poem: Robert Browning *
Fairy Tale: Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm *, Wilhelm Carl Grimm *
Photographed by: Peter Suschitzky
Film Editor: John Trumper
Music Composed and Sung by: Donovan
Sound Recordist: Tony Jackson
Costume Designer: Vangy Harrison
Makeup Supervisor: Bob Lawrence
Hairdressing Supervisor: Gladys Leakey
Special Effects: John Stears
Production Designer: Assheton Gorton
Filmed on location in Rothenberg ob der Tauber, Germany
Filmed on location in Germany and at Lee International Studios, Kensal Road, London, England
Cast
Jack Wild (Gavin)
Donald Pleasence (baron)
John Hurt (Franz)
Donovan as The Pied Piper
Michael Hordern (Melius)
Roy Kinnear (Burgermaster Poppendick)
Peter Vaughan (bishop)
Diana Dors as Frau Poppendick
Cathryn Harrison as Lisa
Keith Buckley (Mattio)
Peter Eyre (pilgrim)
John Welsh
Hamilton Dyce (Papal Nuncio)
Arthur Hewlett (Otto)
Andre Van Gyseghem (friar)
Patsy Puttnam (Helga)
Paul Hennen (Karl)
David Leland (officer)
Michael Goldie (burger)
John Falconer (priest)
Clive Elliott (priest)
Sammie Winmill (Gretel)
Alternative Titles
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Links
Extracts included in
Screen Test: 14 February 1973
Press
1972
CinemaTV Today no.9992 (5 August 1972) p.19
An extraordinary film that performs the remarkable feat of reminding me of both Ken Russell’s The Devils and a Clarkson Rose production of Dick Whittington. The serious treatment of the historical side, with its religious bigotry and the burning of Melius, contrasts harshly with the jolly farcical foolery of the Burgermeister and the Baron. The locations and Assheton Gorton’s sets are triumphantly realistic; but every scene that involves more than three people has the cast stranding glued to their marks as if waiting for the principal boy to liven things up with a song. Monumental miscastings, coupled with inept dialogue, leave most of the featured players floundering their way through performances that had me peering at the cast list in shocked disbelief; yet Donald Pleasence, Michael Hordern and Hamilton Dyce are excellent in their handful of well-written scenes. Donovan’s songs are pleasant enough, but do not have the haunting quality that would make it possible to believe in their magical powers. In fact, the film seethes with almost as many contradictions as it does with rats. – from a review by Marjorie Bilbow
All text in this section © the relevant copyright holders
References
Periodicals
- CinemaTV Today no.9992 (5 August 1972) p.19 – credits, review (by Marjorie Bilbow)
- Daily Variety vol.146 no. 19 (5 January 1970) p.10 – credits (Film production chart)
- Today’s Cinema no.9920 (6 July 1971) p.4 – article (Demy in England by Sue Clarke); credits (In production)
Books
- Encyclopedia of Rock Music on Film by Linda J. Sandahl p.86
- Film Review 1972-73 by F. Maurice Speed p.228
- Horror and Science Fiction Films II by Donald C. Willis p.306
- Looking for a New England: Action, Time, Vision: Music, Film and TV 1975-1986 by Simon Matthews pp.26, 28
- Psychedelic Celluloid: British Pop Music in Film and TV 1965-1974 by Simon Matthews p.195 – illustrated review
- Reference Guide to Fantastic Films by Walt Lee p.369 – credits
- Rock-Film: In 450 film, trent’anni di Cinema & Rock by Paolo Belluso and Flavio Merkel p.166 – credits, note
- Rock on Film by David Ehrenstein and Bill Reed p.213
- The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy by David Pringle (general ed.) p.69 – credits, review
