The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)

The story of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, and three of their stories...

Directors:

Henry Levin, George Pal

Writers:

David P. Harmon (screenplay), Charles Beaumont (screenplay)

Stars:

Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Karlheinz Böhm

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Laurence Harvey	...	Wilhelm Grimm / The Cobbler ('The Cobbler and the Elves')
Karlheinz Böhm	...	Jacob Grimm (as Karl Boehm)
Claire Bloom	...	Dorothea Grimm
Walter Slezak	...	Stossel
Barbara Eden	...	Greta Heinrich
Oskar Homolka	...	The Duke (as Oscar Homolka)
Arnold Stang	...	Rumpelstiltskin
Martita Hunt	...	Anna Richter (Story Teller)
Betty Garde	...	Miss Bettenhausen
Bryan Russell	...	Freidrich Grimm
Ian Wolfe	...	Gruber
Tammy Marihugh	...	Pauline Grimm
Cheerio Meredith	...	Mrs. Von Dittersdorf
Walter Rilla	...	Priest
Yvette Mimieux	...	The Princess ('The Dancing Princess')

Storyline

The fictionalized lives of the story-telling Grimm brothers are brought to life in this all-star fantasy film. In the early nineteenth century, the brothers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm are commissioned to write a family history for a local Duke. Reenactments of three of their stories including "The Dancing Princess", "The Cobbler and the Elves" and "The Singing Bone".

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Plot Keywords:

brothers grimm | reference to the brothers grimm | reference to brothers grimm | singing | duke | 

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Taglines:

Now Cinerama Tells a Story!

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Biography | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 1963 (UK)

Also Known As:

El maravilloso mundo de los hermanos Grimm

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Studios, Bavariafilmplatz 7, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Gross USA:

$14,170,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinerama Productions Corp., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Bavaria Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Cinerama 7-Track Mono (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.59 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer George Pal originally wanted Peter Sellers and Alec Guinness to play the Brothers Grimm, but MGM vetoed the idea.

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Goofs

Automobile visible driving in the distance when the brothers are walking along the street.

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Quotes

Wilhelm Grimm: [final line] Once upon a time
[pause]
Wilhelm Grimm: there were two brothers!

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Crazy Credits

At the end, the credits simply say: "And they lived happily ever after". There is no "The End" credit or "Cast of Characters".

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Alternate Versions

When shown in regular theatres rather than ones equipped for Cinerama, the film was shown as a regular anamorphic widescreen film. However, it had not been shot that way, so the "lines" at which the three strips of film used in Cinerama were joined were visible onscreen. Films such as the 1955 "Oklahoma!", which was first shown in Todd-AO, were actually filmed in two versions, one for a Todd-AO screen and one for a Cinemascope screen.

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Connections

Referenced in A Christmas Eve Conversation with Quentin Tarantino & Paul Thomas Anderson (2015)

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Soundtracks

Christmas Land
Words and Music by Bob Merrill

User Reviews

Feast for the eyes

You have to be young at heart to relish the film and I enjoyed the visuals as a child would. You know today that the two brothers wrote on two desks side by side to accommodate the cinerama screen--yet it looks so much better visually. It is not great cinema but good cinema of the sixties.

Of particular note was the Terry Thomas and Bud Hackett sub-plot which might not appear to be great technically but is funny and heartwarming even today. Laurence Harvey as Wilhelm Grimm (it was difficult to note that was the Cobbler as well) and Martita Hunt as the witch were superb. The German locations were ideal. The art direction and the puppet/animation sequences were really topnotch--who cares if there was a car visible in one shot!

In short, this is an ideal film for family viewing and the studios should consider re-releasing it for school viewing. All the kids today know of Snow White and Cinderella, but how many know of the Grimm brothers or of why Cinderella was called by that name? The film needs imaginative marketing to keep the box office jingling...