Heidi (1937)

A plucky little orphan girl gets dumped abruptly into her gruff, hermit grandfather's care, then later gets retaken and delivered as a companion for an injured girl.

Director:

Allan Dwan

Writers:

Johanna Spyri (by), Walter Ferris (screen play)

Stars:

Shirley Temple, Jean Hersholt, Arthur Treacher

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Shirley Temple	...	Heidi
Jean Hersholt	...	Adolph Kramer / Grandfather
Arthur Treacher	...	Andrews
Helen Westley	...	Blind Anna
Thomas Beck	...	Pastor Schultz
Mary Nash	...	Fraulein Rottenmeier
Sidney Blackmer	...	Herr Sesemann
Pauline Moore	...	Elsa
Mady Christians	...	Dete
Marcia Mae Jones	...	Klara Sesemann
Delmar Watson	...	Peter
Egon Brecher	...	Inn Keeper
Christian Rub	...	Baker
George Humbert	...	Organ Grinder
Sig Ruman	...	Police Captain (as Sig Rumann)

Storyline

Eight-year-old Heidi is orphaned and her selfish maternal Aunt Dete takes her to the mountains to live with Adolph Kramer, her grumpy, old, outcast, survivalist paternal grandfather. Heidi brings her grandfather back into mountain society through her angelic ways, sheer love, and adorable personality. When Aunt Dete steals Heidi away to be the companion of a rich man's invalid daughter, the grandfather is enraged and sets out to get her back. Back in Frankfurt, loved and adored by everyone she touches except the villainous housekeeper, Fraulein Rottenmeier, she thrives but is inwardly very sad and lonely. No matter what anyone tells her, Heidi, with faith, hope, and the stubbornness she inherited from her grandfather, knows that some day she will be reunited with the him and the beloved people of the mountain's little village.

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Plot Keywords:

alps | female protagonist | footprint | horse drawn sleigh | scheming | 

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Taglines:

Shirley's A Little Swiss Miss In The Loveliest Story of Her Career !

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Genres:

Drama | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Haidei

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As she had worried about Jane Withers in Bright Eyes (1934) three years before, Shirley Temple's mother, Gertrude Temple, worried that Marcia Mae Jones would steal the spotlight from her daughter in this movie. However, Shirley and Marcia Mae worked well with each other and appeared together again in The Little Princess (1939).

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Goofs

When Heidi and her grandfather are sledding, the close-up shots show grandfather's arms around Heidi and he's holding the pointed ends of the sled's upright runner tips. The far-away shots show them in a much larger sled, with grandfather holding reins that are attached to the runner tips, which are several feet in front of them.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Dete: [discovering Heidi undressing in the street] Heidi! Put those on!
Heidi: Oh, not everything. I'm so hot!
Dete: Well, keep on your Sunday dress, and your coat. Hurry up.
Heidi: Oh, all right.

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Crazy Credits

Credits are printed into a Heidi storybook. Pages are turned by a hand.

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Alternate Versions

Also available in a computer colorized version.

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Connections

Referenced in 20 to 1: Child Stars: Where Are They Now? (2008)

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Soundtracks

The First Noel
(uncredited)
Traditional 17th century hymn
Sung by many at Christmas

User Reviews

Childhood Classic Comes Alive

Little orphaned HEIDI is abandoned at the Alpine home of her stern Grandfather - only the beginning in a series of remarkable changes in both their lives.

Shirley Temple had one of her greatest triumphs as the diminutive heroine of Johanna Spyri's classic children's novel. So well does she fill the role - eyes bright, tremendous smile & bouncing curls - that it is difficult to imagine any other young American actress of the era playing the part.

Some might grumble at the various incongruities - the jumble of accents, the Dutch musical number - but that is beside the point. This was meant to be quality family entertainment and to earn Fox Studios a great deal of money. The film was a success on both scores.

Director Allan Dwan ensured that the book's high points were included in the film & Fox gave HEIDI very good production values - note especially the scenes of village life in Dorfli - and a fine supporting cast: gentle Jean Hersholt, perfect as the old Grandfather, gruff & lovable; droll Arthur Treacher, his comic English butler is definitely not in the original book, but he is hilarious nonetheless; Marcia Mae Jones as crippled Klara; Sidney Blackmer as her wealthy father; Sig Ruman as a police captain and elderly Helen Westley as the blind Grandmother.

There are often she dragons in Shirley Temple films, bitter women who try to thwart the innocent joys of the Mighty Moppet and end up either converted or punished. HEIDI boasts two villainesses, Mady Christians as hardhearted Aunt Dete & imperious Mary Nash as the strangely evil Fräulein Rottenmeier. So well do these ladies play their parts that they are able to grab some of the attention of the audience away from Miss Temple.

Movie mavens should recognize Greta Meyer as a Dorfli villager & Frank Reicher as a Frankfurt police lieutenant, both uncredited.