The Pied Piper (1972)

Director:

Jacques Demy

Writers:

Jacques Demy (screenplay) and
Andrew Birkin (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

17 December 1972 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

Come children of the universe, let Donovan take you away, far far away.

Plot:

Greed, corruption, ignorance, and disease. Midsummer, 1349: the Black Death reaches northern Germany...

Plot Keywords:

Jew | Minstrel | Plague | Black Death | Death

Cast

Jack Wild	...	Gavin
Donald Pleasence	...	The Baron
John Hurt	...	Franz
Donovan	...	The Pied Piper
Michael Hordern	...	Melius, Alchemist
Roy Kinnear	...	Burgermeister Poppendick
Peter Vaughan	...	Bishop
Diana Dors	...	Frau Poppendick
Cathryn Harrison	...	Lisa
Keith Buckley	...	Mattio
Peter Eyre	...	Pilgrim
John Welsh	...	Chancellor
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
David Nettheim	...	Kulik (as David Netheim)
Sammie Winmill	...	Gretel
Gertan Klauber	...	Town Cryer
Roger Hammond	...	Burger
Edwin Brown	...	Burger
George Cormack	...	Burger
Mary MacLeod	...	Maidservant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Harry Fielder	...	Flunky (uncredited)
Sacha Puttnam	...	Little Boy (uncredited)

Directed by
Jacques Demy

Writing credits
Jacques Demy		(screenplay) and
Andrew Birkin		(screenplay) and
Mark Peploe		(screenplay)
Robert Browning		poem (uncredited)
Jacob Grimm		fairy tale (uncredited)
Wilhelm Grimm		fairy tale (uncredited)

Produced by
Sanford Lieberson	....	producer
David Puttnam	....	producer

Original Music by
Donovan

Cinematography by
Peter Suschitzky

Film Editing by
John Trumper

Casting by
Mary Selway

Production Design by
Assheton Gorton

Art Direction by
George Djurkovic

Costume Design by
Evangeline Harrison

Makeup Department
Bob Lawrance	....	makeup artist (as Bob Lawrence)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Garth Thomas	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Tony Jackson	....	sound mixer

Special Effects by
John Stears	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Roy Larner	....	gaffer
Roy Rodhouse	....	best boy

Music Department
Kenny Clayton	....	conductor (as Kenneth Clayton)
Kenny Clayton	....	music arranger (as Kenneth Clayton)
Donovan	....	musician: singer

Other crew
Zelda Barron	....	continuity
John Holmes	....	rat trainer

Production Companies

• Sagittarius Productions Inc.
• Goodtimes Enterprises

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Scotia-Barber (1972) (UK) (theatrical)
• Ciné Tamaris (1992) (worldwide) (all media) (rights)
• Alvorada Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Legend Films (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Missing in Action (MIA) (1986) (UK) (VHS)
• Video Gems (1990) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Lee Lighting  lighting

Also Known As:

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:G | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Lee International Studios, Wembley, London, England, UK

Company:

Sagittarius Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Was released after the death of Hamilton Dyce.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jacquot de Nantes (1991)

overlooked and interesting

Watching this recently, I remembered certain scenes from when I watched it as a child of about 7 or 8, some twenty-five years ago. That is testament to how effective some of The Pied Piper is. Indeed, in some ways it hardly qualifies as a "childrens' film" at all, as it starts with a picture of a heretic being burned at the stake and ends with the death of one of the main characters by the same means. Clearly Demy had Bergman's The Seventh Seal in mind for the general feel of the film, which stresses the irrationality and brutality of the times. However, the screenwriters and Demy add another ingredient - the political chicanery of the Church, the aristocracy and the merchant class, sometimes colluding together, at other times each promoting their own special interests. It's not difficult to read the film as a quasi-Marxist parable about feudal society, and the film-makers clearly intended something of the sort. If that makes it all sound very heavy, actually the film is fairly fast-moving and fun, especially because of the wonderfully comic grotesque playing of Donald Pleasance and Roy Kinnear. Fans of these actors should definitely seek this film out - Pleasance is as good as he was in "Death Line" (AKA "Raw Meat") made about the same time, and Kinnear is nearly as good as he was in "Juggernaut", another overlooked but very interesting British film of the early 70s. There is also a very good performance from Michael Hordern as the rationalist alchemist, one of his better and most substantial but unfortunately least known performances. Nostalgia fans can also take pleasure in remembering a time when Jack Wild, made famous by "Oliver", was considered a star. The Pied Piper deserves its mixed critical reputation. Demy does not here have the firm control over his material he had in earlier films. The main flaw is the total lack of characterisation of the Piper, and the terrible non-acting of the folk singer Donovan in that role. His musical interludes are just embarrassing and the worst thing about the film (for a similar ruining of a otherwise thoughtful historical film by a miscast singing star, see 1969's "Where's Jack?" with Tommy Steele). This is a pity as the socio-political stuff at the edges of the film, plus the costumes and scenery, are very good indeed. Overall, this is certainly worth a watch if it turns up on TV or you might, as I did, seek it out on a secondhand VHS cassette. It is not a major film but it's an endearing oddity, and certainly a must-see for Demy students or fans of Brtish film in the early 70s.