Die goldene Gans (1964)

Klaus lives with his two brothers Kunz and Franz in a little village. Together, they ply their trade as cobblers in a small workshop. But the workload rests mainly on the shoulders of ... See full summary »

Director:

Siegfried Hartmann

Writers:

Jacob Grimm (fairy tale), Wilhelm Grimm (fairy tale)

Stars:

Kaspar Eichel, Uwe-Detlev Jessen, Peter Dommisch

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kaspar Eichel	...	Klaus
Uwe-Detlev Jessen	...	Kunz
Peter Dommisch	...	Franz
Gerd E. Schäfer	...	Hofgelehrter Weisenstein
Katharina Lind	...	Lies
Renate Usko	...	Gret
Gerhard Rachold	...	Prinz Störenfried
Fritz Decho	...	Graf Ohnewitz
Karin Ugowski	...	Prinzessin
Heinz Scholz	...	König
Fritz Schlegel	...	Wirt
Jochen Thomas	...	Raufbold
Joachim Fuchs	...	Schreihals
Hartmut Beer	...	Spießgeselle
Ralph Boettner	...	Hauptmann des Königs (as Ralph J. Boettner)

Storyline

Klaus lives with his two brothers Kunz and Franz in a little village. Together, they ply their trade as cobblers in a small workshop. But the workload rests mainly on the shoulders of ill-treated Klaus. When Kunz and Franz go off into the forest to chop wood for fuel they run into an old woman who asks them for some wine and bread. Rudely and gruffly, they refuse her request and return home without any wood. Klaus then has to set out and he meets the old woman as well. He gladly offers her his frugal meal which is suddenly turned into pancakes and good wine. In addition, he receives a golden goose for his kindness. The bird possesses a an unusual characteristic: all those who are prying, nosy, envious and rapacious get stuck to it and become glued to one another. On his subsequent journey, Klaus therefore collects a weird, motley following. This sight even makes the melancholy princess laugh. Whoever can make her laugh, the king has pro-claimed, shall have her for his wife. But in ...

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Plot Keywords:

goose | gold | 

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Taglines:

SEE! A Crazy Parade of Greedy People, Who Take the Goose and Can't Get Loose!

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Genres:

Family | Fantasy

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Did You Know?

Connections

Edited into Santa's Fantasy Fair (1969)

User Reviews

colorful, broadly played East German 60's children's film, dubbed into English by K. Gordon Murray

NOTE: This review is of the English-dubbed version of THE GOLDEN GOOSE, dubbed and distributed in the USA by K. Gordon Murray.

Of all the many children's films exported to the US by "master showman" K. Gordon Murray in the 1960's, THE GOLDEN GOOSE is one of the three of four best in terms of entertainment value. I showed my children (now teens) this film when they were in the 5-8 age range, and they loved the color, the slapstick comedy, the comforting broadly-played characters, and the sense of fun. Also, this film lacks the Gothic touches and overall weirdness found in some of Murray's Mexican imports (although those have a lot of appeal for adults watching them today). The young women in the film are dubbed by adults trying to sound like children, which gives the whole film a non-realistic quality, almost like story time at a daycare! I don't know what frame of reference today's children would have to help them with something like this--perhaps the skits performed at theme parks or when the high school musical comedy players go to elementary schools to perform--but THE GOLDEN GOOSE holds up well as timeless, simple family entertainment for the under 10 crowd. And the visuals are interesting enough that adults would not be bored. Unfortunately, the days when films such as this played in actual theaters were dead by the early 1970's--your best bet today for finding old children's films might be in the DVD/VHS pile at your local dollar store. Some of the children's films imported by Murray in the later 60's were more strange than entertaining, but THE GOLDEN GOOSE still contains a lot of entertainment value for those with old-fashioned tastes, or those parents who want to broaden their children's horizons.

Details

Country:

East Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

25 September 1964 (East Germany)

Also Known As:

The Golden Goose

Company Credits

Production Co:

Deutsche Film (DEFA)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1