THE TERRORNAUTS (1967)

In England, Simon Oates is the head of Project Startalk, a small group of scientists who are searching for radio transmissions that might come from intelligent life in space. Oates was inspired by a childhood incident in which a strange, possibly alien, black box artifact dug up by his archeologist uncle triggered a vivid dream vision of being on a barren planet with two moons. For years, their progress reports have been singularly empty and Max Adrian, the cranky bureaucrat in charge of their funding, gives them ninety days to get concrete results or lose the project. Later, Oates and his colleagues (Zena Marshall and Stanley Meadows) discover a repeating transmission coming from the asteroid belt, though Adrian says that an asteroid is very unlikely to support life. That evening, while an accountant (Charles Hawtrey) is going through their books and a tea cart lady (Patricia Hayes) is dispensing beverages, a giant spaceship appears in the sky and pulls their small building up into space and attaches it to the bottom of the ship. A spindly Dalek-like creature seems to be testing their intelligence, though the humans suspect that it may be merely an "ultrasonic hallucination." They also run across the body of a long-dead humanoid, and soon stumble (literally) onto a transporter platform that sends them to a planet that is exactly like what the young Oates saw in his vision, which serves as a warning about a fleet of advanced aliens who will likely attack Earth soon. The black box that Oates had as a child is a repository of knowledge and power, and several are given to the earthlings; can they master the boxes and beat back the coming attack?

Doctor Who meets Thunderbirds in this rather juvenile low-budget sci-fi film from Amicus, a rival of Hammer Studios in the 60s and 70s. In fact, the whole thing is so silly that I'm surprised this wasn't a pilot for a kiddie TV series. Weirdly, the script is by John Brunner, a respected SF author who won a Hugo just a couple of years later for Stand on Zanzibar, an experimental novel which is still in print, and it's based on a novel by Murray Leinster, a pulp writer whose books also remain available. The plot may have some good ideas, such as the boy's vision and the concept of the black boxes, and the theme of aliens communicating to warn us about some danger is interesting, but the cheap production values (especially the Space Invaders climax) and the strained comic relief of the accountant and the tea lady hurt the film. Charles Hawtrey was a British comic actor well known for his participation on the Carry On series of comedies from 1958 to 1972, though I know him for a shoutout he gets on the Beatles' Let It Be album ("I Dig a Pygmy by Charles Hawtrey and the Deaf-Aids"). Patricia Hayes has a small part as the dog-walking old lady in A Fish Called Wanda. They add nothing much to the narrative except as the voices of non-scientists; I didn't get too irritated by them but I could have done without them. In a different era, they might have been played by Edward Everett Horton and Una O'Connor (thanks to my husband for that insight). Simon Oates' performance doesn't get much critical love, but I thought he was a good low-key hero. The other two actors practically vanish while they're on screen, but again, they don't give offense. Posters for the film reference a "virgin sacrifice to the gods," which is a 20-second scene that leads nowhere. Favorite line: Oates says, "The laws of the universe weren't made by an accountant," and Hawtrey drily replies, "Pity." Despite the title, there isn't really a moment of terror here. [Streaming]

I, JANE DOE (1948)

Stephen Curtis is found shot to death, and the apparent killer is a European woman who refuses to give her name or indeed any explanation at all. She is put on trial as Jane Doe, doesn't testify, and is found guilty and sentenced to death. She promptly faints in the courtroom, and when it's discovered that she is pregnant, her execution is delayed. Stephen's widow Eve, a former lawyer, returns to her practice to defend Jane in a retrial, granted due to her pregnancy. In court, Jane finally identifies herself as Mrs. Stephen Curtis. Flashbacks to the beginning of the war show that Eve and Stephen were happy until evidence cropped up suggesting that Stephen had been unfaithful. Before Eve can think the situation through, Stephen is drafted and sent to France where his plane is shot down and Jane, whose real name is Annette, saves him from the Nazis who are hunting him. They fall in love and marry (with Annette not knowing this makes him a bigamist), with Stephen saying he'll take her back to the States once he's released from the service. The end of the war comes but Stephen doesn't; instead he asks for an annulment, so Annette gets a forged passport and heads to New York City. Stephen is surprised to see Annette, Annette is surprised to see Eve, and Eve is, well, that might be a spoiler. Suffice to say that a confrontation occurs leaving Stephen dead and the two women in a potentially sticky situation. Much of this narrative, including the ending, strains credibility, especially for anyone with much knowledge of the American legal system. As a B-movie courtroom thriller, it works OK. Ruth Hussey is the standout cast member as Eve, acting kind of like a feminist icon here: sly, powerful, dignified. I can't remember if we ever get an explanation as to why Eve didn't testify about the case's background from the beginning (she may have been out of the country), but it feel like a contrived situation. John Carroll, a favorite B-lead of mine, is attractive and slimy as Stephen. Gene Lockhart goes a bit against his grain as the occasionally angry prosecutor. John Howard and Benay Venuta are fine in supporting roles. Most critics find Vera Ralston, as Jane, to be a problem. Ralston's lack of talent made her the butt of jokes in Hollywood, and she is stiff and unnatural here, but I thought that more or less fit the character, a simple country woman who gets into things above her head, and she spends much of the film looking like a deer in headlights. The narrative structure, with two long flashback sequences, is interesting, but the plot itself is bland and developed in a by-the-numbers way. How to wrap this up? Rarely exciting, sometimes straining credibility, but watchable. A must for Ruth Hussey fans. Pictured are Carroll and Hussey. [YouTube]

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (1940)

Playboy John Howard has just paid out $100,000 to settle yet another breach of promise lawsuit and has to break it to eccentric scientist John Barrymore that he can no longer finance Barrymore's projects, the latest of which involves making living beings invisible. But Barrymore has already placed an ad in the newspaper looking for a willing subject for his experiment. Virginia Bruce, a dress model, applies, thinking of it as a fun adventure. Her boss (Charles Lane) is a despicable bully and she plans on getting revenge against him while invisible. The experiment is a success and the invisible (and naked) Bruce goes to the office and literally kicks Lane's ass until he promises to be a better boss. Meanwhile, wanted gangster Oscar Homolka, in hiding in a Mexican border town, gets wind of the device and sends his thugs to steal it so he can turn invisible and return home. Barrymore takes Bruce to Howard's hunting lodge to prove his machine works. After some visible and invisible flirtation, the two fall for each other, and when Bruce gets a little drunk, Barrymore soon discovers that ingesting alcohol makes the invisibility last longer than it should. When the crooks get hold of the machine, slapstick scenes ensue until the machine is recovered and Howard decides to abandon his playboy ways and settle down with Bruce.

I first saw this on TV when I was a young horror movie fan and I was very disappointed to find that, despite being considered a sequel to the Universal horror classic The Invisible Man, it's not horror at all, but a kind of sci-fi screwball comedy. Watching it as an adult, I actually found the whole thing fairly delightful. The titillation factor (considering the era in which it was made) is high; much is made of Bruce being naked for most of the film, though of course we never actually see any skin because, well, she's invisible. Instead, there are several scenes of her getting dressed or undressed in addition to the various special effects, similar to the ones used in the 1933 original and its first sequel. The cast is pretty much B-level, but they're more than up to the task of giving fizzy performances. Bruce, one of my favorite B-actresses, is very good (and very attractive) in the title role; Howard is fine, Lane is nicely mean until he reforms, and Edward Brophy and Donald McBride are in good form as Homolka's bumbling goons. Barrymore, who had fallen on hard times due to his drinking, still manages to give a solid comic performance, and actually has more screen time with Bruce than Howard does. However, the most fun comes from Charlie Ruggles as Howard's butler who doesn't have a lot to do but is present for much of the film and always drily funny. Margaret Hamilton (pictured with Barrymore) has a small role as does Mary Gordon who was Sherlock Holmes’ landlady in the Basil Rathbone movies. Things bog down a bit in the middle at the lodge, but overall, at 72 minutes, the pace is about right. [Blu-ray]

SANDOKAN THE GREAT (1963)

In Victorian era British Malay, Lord Hillock's forces have ruled using brutal treatment of the natives. We see the execution by firing squad of three rebels who shout the name of the rebel pirate Sandokan as they die. The local sultan is being held in jail and his son Sandokan has vowed to free his father. His plan is to kidnap Hillock's niece Mary Ann and hold her hostage. His chief assistant, the Portuguese Yanez, impersonates a British messenger and tells Hillock that Sandokan is dead, which results in the British letting down their guard and allowing Sandokan and his men to get away with the niece. She is, of course, indignant, but a few things change her opinion about Sandokan: she learns his mission, she discovers that Hillock was responsible for the death of Yanez's wife, and Sandokan saves her from a tiger attack. Oh yeah, and they fall in love. As Sandokan's group heads for a sea escape, the British follow, aided by a traitor among the rebels. Yanez is wounded and gangrene is about to set in when they wind up in a native village and a blue-haired witch doctor woman applies mildew (which we know is related to penicillin) to the wound, saving his life. Eventually Sandokan is captured and set to be executed, but with the help of Yanez and Mary Ann and, most importantly, the natives, the British are sent packing after a number of them are slaughtered, with the natives left in charge of the area and Mary Ann staying with the wandering Sandokan.

Sandokan is a pulp fiction pirate hero from a series of Italian novels. Largely because Steve Reeves plays Sandokan, this movie is often classed as a sword and sandal (peplum) film even though it’s set in the 19th century, has more guns than swords, no sandals, and few bare chests—though we do see Reeves shirtless for a split second. As a pulpy anti-colonial adventure story, it works well enough. Reeves, dressed more like an Arabian Nights character than a pirate, is fine as a heroic lead; he'd only make two more movies before retiring from the screen, still in his 40s and still looking good. Genevieve Grad is a bit lightweight as Mary Ann, seeming more like a college girl than a member of the British ruling class. Better are Andrea Bosic as Yanez, Sandokan's chief support, and Rik Battaglia as Sambigliong, a native associate who actually is shirtless for much of the movie. A handsome fellow named Mario Valdemarin plays one of Hillock's men. There's a good attack scene early on, a not-so-good tiger attack, pulled off with a stuffed tiger, and a great kick-ass action sequence in the last ten minutes with Reeves manning a gatling gun and slaughtering Brits by the dozen. Location filming in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) is an asset. Good Saturday afternoon entertainment. [DVD]

THE FAT MAN (1951)

At a dental conference at a Manhattan hotel, California dentist Dr. Bromley is attacked and thrown out of a window to his death on the sidewalk below. The official police verdict is accidental fall, but his nurse Jane (Jayne Meadows) suspects foul play, especially because a set of dental x-rays was stolen. She approaches private detective Brad Runyon (J. Scott Smart) whom Bromley had an appointment to see. Known as the Fat Man for his large size and his love of gourmet food—we see him give a cooking demonstration as though it were a medical operation—he is reluctant to get involved until Jane and his associate Bill (Clinton Sundberg) are attacked. Jane relates the odd story of Roy Clark (Rock Hudson), the patient whose x-rays were stolen: he arrived one day looking disheveled and confused and needing a tooth pulled. A week later, he appeared in the office to pay for his extraction, dressed in nice clothes with a wad of cash and a chauffeur. Back in California, some interesting discoveries are made. Roy met a woman named Pat (Julie London) in a bar and they hit it off. He tells her of his criminal past: he served time for an armored car robbery though his accomplices escaped. When he was released, he went to Gene Gordon (John Russell), the planner of the robbery and now a respectable ranch owner, though the local police are sure he's got connections to the underworld. Gene gave Roy some money, but not his full share of the robbery dough, and now Roy is missing. Runyon tracks down Roy's former cellmate, Ed Deets, now a clown at an amphitheater circus. When Jane is murdered because of her suspicions, Brad and Bill have to get serious in order to get the guilty parties.

The Fat Man was a radio show character created by Dashiell Hammett and voiced by Smart, who plays him here. Smart is OK, amusing and light on his feet (especially in a short dance scene with Pat), but he lacks the gravitas and charisma of someone like Sydney Greenstreet who could have done this part in his sleep. Clinton Sundberg is fun as the doofusy but reliable assistant, Jayne Meadows is a standout as the nurse, and I like B-actor John Russell as the shady Gene. But the real standouts here are sultry singer Julie London and hunk Rock Hudson in one of his earliest featured roles. Later, Hudson acquired a veneer of seriousness even in his fluffy romantic comedies with Doris Day, but here he is fresh and baby-faced and casually sexy and is quite good. London gives her role some depth, and I'm sorry that both actors have somewhat limited screen time. Jerome Cowan is fine as the cop, and real-life clown celebrity Emmett Kelly is surprisingly subtle in a rare dramatic role as Ed Deets. There are characters named Pinky and Shifty and Happy, and both Brad and Bill call everyone "Sweetheart." Though Smart is adequate, I don't think he could have carried a Fat Man series, even a second feature series. Pictured are London and Hudson. [YouTube]

THE DEVIL BAT’S DAUGHTER (1946)

In the small town of Wardsley, a young woman is found in the street, unconscious. She had just come to town and a cab driver took her to the Carruthers house, which is empty after the death of Dr. Carruthers years ago. It turns out she is Nina, the doc's daughter. Years ago, Carruthers was accused of being a vampire, having bred gigantic bats which attacked and killed a number of townspeople before they turned on him. With Nina still unresponsive, Dr. Elliot gets Dr. Morris, a psychiatrist, to attend to her. Nina wakes up but becomes hysterical as she has visions of giant bats, and of turning into a bar along with her father. Morris's wife Ellen insists on Nina staying with them, and we soon discover that Ellen's marriage is on the rocks, with Morris having an affair with Myra, an old friend of Ellen's. Ted, Ellen's son from a previous marriage, arrives for a visit and mild romantic sparks begin between him and Nina. However, Nina's condition worsens and Ted's dog is found dead in Nina's room, with Nina insisting that she must have killed it while possessed by her evil father. As plans are made to institutionalize Nina, Ellen is found dead in her bedroom, with Nina passed out in the hallway. It seems obvious that Nina is the killer, but Ted doesn't think so and with help from Dr. Elliot, Ted visits the Carruthers house and finds evidence that points to someone else as the killer. Can Ted clear Nina's name, and maybe even her father's name as well?

In theory, this is a sequel to a 1940 B-horror film called THE DEVIL BAT which featured Bela Lugosi as Carruthers, though the connections don't quite work. In the original film, the doctor is indeed a madman (with no daughter in sight) murdering people with bats for revenge. But this movie concludes with Carruthers being exonerated—it's not explained in detail except that the killings were not his fault—so I guess PRC, the Poverty Row studio that made both movies, assumed that no one would remember the details of the first film. The screenwriter, Griffin Jay, pulled similar rewriting moves when he scripted some of the Mummy sequels for Universal. The earlier Lugosi film is straight up horror, but this, despite flirting with a spooky atmosphere, is really more a psychological thriller akin to GASLIGHT. Everything about the film screams B-movie (or B-minus movie): cheap production values, scattershot writing, and bottom of the barrel acting. The actors seem to have been hired for their blandness. Rosemary LaPlanche is pretty bad as Nina—she can handle the catatonia at the beginning, but any emotions are beyond her reach. There is zero chemistry between her and John James (Ted), who himself is just mildly better than LaPlanche. The other actors aren't even worth mentioning. At some point, poor LaPlanche actually has to say the cliche line, "What’s to become of me?" The fact that we don't care shows how weak this movie is. Pictured is LaPlante with Michael Hale. [YouTube]

CHARLIE CHAN IN PANAMA (1940)

A group of travelers leave their ship, which is about to go through the Panama Canal, and instead take a sea plane that will get them to Panama City more quickly. It's 1940 and the U.S. wasn't officially in WWII yet, but the American naval fleet is about to pass through into the Pacific Ocean and the city is filled with spies. One of the passengers, Godley, visits Fu Yuen's hat shop, but Fu Yuen is actually Charlie Chan and Godley is a government agent asking for his help in tracking down a mysterious spy named Ryner who might be about to pull off a major act of sabotage. But Godley drops dead in the shop, victim of a poisoned cigarette that was planted on him by one of the sea plane passengers. Chan, with his son Jimmy, investigates. Among the suspects: Compton, an English novelist; Miss Finch, a maiden schoolteacher; Manolo, owner of a cabaret in the city; Dr. Grosser, an unfriendly research scientist; Cabot, an American engineer; and Kathi Lenesch, a woman with a mysterious past who is going to sing at Manolo's cabaret. Jimmy, who engages in his usual bumbling antics, actually discovers something potentially helpful: Grosser has a cage of rats that he has injected with bubonic plague; could that be part of a sabotage act? Or could it involve the liquid explosive that is discovered in a burial vault? This is one of several WWII Chan films in which Charlie worked for the government, using his detective skills to catch spies. This is a particularly strong entry in the series, packed with action scenes and a solid supporting cast which includes Lionel Atwill (Compton) who was equally at home as a villain or a red herring; the handsome and sturdy Kane Richmond (Cabot) who was usually a hero but not always; Jean Rogers (Kathi) who was best known as Dale Arden in the first two Flash Gordon serials; Mary Nash (Miss Finch) who was Katherine Hepburn's mother in The Philadelphia Story; and Jack La Rue (Manolo), frequent portrayer of gangsters. Victor Sen Yung (pictured) is quite appealing as Jimmy, coming off a little less bombastically than he sometimes does, and Sidney Toler is near the top of his game as Chan. Even though it's not quite a traditional mystery story, this would be a good place for a Chan novice to start. [DVD]

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK (1952)

This is the ur-text, so to speak, of my obsession with Thanksgiving fantasy films, that is, films that were run on local TV stations during Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas break. This one I think I saw on both holidays back in the 60s and early 70s. I hadn't seen it since sometime in the 80s when I had a bargain basement VHS tape of it. A re-viewing of something like this is always a dicey proposition as the magic that made me love it when I was young is usually hard to capture again—see my review of THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR. T. It’s an odd duck of a movie as it stars Abbott and Costello in a fairy tale retelling. One online critic put it well—it's basically a kiddie movie with A & C shoehorned in for an uncomfortable fit. The two were coming to the end of their long run as a comic team (Bud Abbott was in his 50s and Lou Costello was in his 40s and both had lost some of the energy of their earlier films) though they would make seven more movies in the next four years before calling it quits. It opens with Lou playing an out-of-work fellow who happens to walk into an employment office as a request for a babysitter comes in. Lou and Bud, who calls himself Lou's agent, have a brief run-in with a big beefy cop before they arrive at the home of a precocious 8-year-old named Donald as his adult sister Eloise (Shaye Cogan) and her boyfriend Arthur (James Alexander) leave to attend a play rehearsal. Lou reads to Donald from a storybook of Jack and the Beanstalk, but when words like "terrorize" and "ferocious" prove too much for Lou, the kid takes over. Lou falls asleep and dreams the story with himself as Jack, Bud as a butcher named Dinkelpuss, the tall cop as the giant, Eloise as a princess, and Arthur as a prince. From there, the story is familiar. Jack sells a cow to Dinkelpuss for magic beans which sprout gigantic stalks. Jack climbs them in order to save the prince and princess who have been kidnapped by the giant. Dinkelpuss follows, greedily after a hen that lays golden eggs. The giant has a talking harp named Patrick and a tall housekeeper named Polly (the receptionist from the employment agency) and after some action scenes and a couple of songs, Jack slays the giant (he falls from the beanstalk and plummets through the earth all the way to China), the prince and princess decide to marry, and Lou wakes up when Donald beans him with a vase. The beginning and end are in sepia tone and the middle in color, but because this film is in the public domain, there are many murky prints of this out there. I saw a nicely restored Blu-ray print on YouTube which is certainly better looking than this movie was on TV back in the 1960s. The songs are unmemorable, and the only fun musical bit is a dance in which the very tall Polly (Dorothy Ford) keeps smacking Jack around with her extended arms. You can see the germ of a fun idea here, but the direction is bland, and even Lou Costello seems like he’s running at 75%. Strictly a novelty view. Pictured are Jack and his beloved cow with rouge and lipstick on. [YouTube]

THE SINGING PRINCESS (1952/1967)

The title character in this animated feature set in Baghdad is Princess Zelia. As she has now reached marrying age, her father the Caliph has sent a messenger out to three nearby lands asking for any interested princes to come to Baghdad to be looked over as husband prospects. But the evil Jafar plots with his magician buddy Burk to stop the search. Burk uses a magic cloak made of the wings of bats and owls to fly to the messenger's canoe and turn him to stone before he can reach the other lands. Meanwhile, Zelia wanders through the land with Amin, her young companion and musician, and sings and dances out of enjoyment. Jafar asks for her hand, but three government ministers (Tanko, Zirco and Zizibe) advise her against it. Burk conjures up a magic ring that, when placed on Zelia’s finger, will cause her to fall in love with Jafar. Amin's pet magpie Calina steals the ring and the ministers plot to give the ring to the ugliest woman they can find, but Amin is kidnapped by Bork who kills the magpie. Amin manages to rip off a part of Burk's cloak to use for himself to escape. Zelia comes to realize that she loves Amin and eventually, Aladdin's lamp, complete with genie, enters the narrative to help good be rewarded and evil be punished.

This one hour film, mostly forgotten by pop culture today, is interesting for a few reasons. First, there's the tangled distribution history. Made in Italy in 1949, it was written and directed by Anton Gino Domenighini, and according to IMDb this was his only film credit. Under the title La Rosa di Bagdad, it won a prize at a children's film festival and in 1952 was dubbed into English, with the voice of the princess provided by 17-year-old Julie Andrews (her first film credit), and released in England. In 1967, after Andrews had become an international star, it was released in the States as a weekend kiddie matinee feature with an ad trumpeting "the magical voice of Julie Andrews." It’s largely vanished from view since then, though it did get a DVD release in 2005. With this kind of pedigree, the movie wouldn't seem promising, but it's quite watchable. The animation has the look of early Disney or Max Fleischer films; it's not quite as colorful or detailed as later Disney films would be, but I think it still holds up. The world-building of this fantasyland version of Baghdad is minimal but fun: the magic bat-wing cloak, a place called the Valley of the Lost, the fact that Zirko is the Minister of Beautiful Things. It's also interesting to look at influences. There are scenes here reminiscent of Fantasia, particularly a nifty dance that three snakes perform in mid-air, and one that the magpie does as it steals the ring. It feels like it might have inspired the Jafar character in Disney's Aladdin, and his somewhat sinisterly effeminate tone isn't too far from that of Scar, the chief villain in The Lion King. Andrews' voice is fine, but if she's the only reason you're watching, you'll be disappointed as her role is overshadowed by the other characters. The operatic tone of Andrews' voice rendered most of her lyrics unintelligible, but the songs aren’t really important to the plot. Recommended to animation fans and as a novelty. [YouTube]

MOTHER HOLLY (1965) / FRAU HOLLE (1954)

A German town in a fairy tale past is, we are told by a narrator, old and tired, because there have been no children born there for years. The figure of Mother Holly gave the town a magic fountain—if anyone drinks from it and wishes to have a child, they will. But the demonic prankster Black Peter has polluted the fountain with trash and no one will drink from it. Statues of the kindly Mother Holly and the demonic prankster Black Peter stand in the town square, and one day Black Peter emerges from his statue to create havoc at the marketplace. (Mother Holly is absent, away in her "underground empire"). When two orphans, Freddie and Caroline, enter the town, he influences them to trash the market, destroying stalls and spoiling food. The kindly lad Hans gives all of his money to the townspeople to make up for their losses, but his upset mother sends him into exile for a year. We also meet a mother and her two daughters, the kind and hardworking stepdaughter Rose Marie and the foolish and lazy birth daughter Elsie Marie. As in the tale of Cinderella, the mother favors the vain Elise and mistreats Rose. Elsie is courted by the effete Prince Von Pants who, though supposedly rich, lives in a dilapidated castle and is as lazy as Elsie. Hans is in love with Rose, but when she drops a spindle in the fountain, she follows it and vanishes, so Hans heads out for his exile year.

Rose ends up in Mother Holly's underground empire which is basically a lovely aboveground field with houses and a garden. Freddie and Caroline end up here also, put on trial by other children for their bad behavior, but when they explain that Black Peter made them do it, they are exonerated. Rose spends a year with Mother Holly, willingly taking on chores and becoming a friend to the children. The year passes. In the town, Hans has returned and has something like an engineer's degree, and he oversees work on the town fountain. Rose leaves Mother Holly's land, transformed by a thick golden shower (dirty minds, begone!; pictured at right) and dressed most regally in a golden gown. Elsie, egged on by her mother, jumps into the fountain and lives in Mother Holly's land for a time, but is lazy and when she leaves, she is rained upon by mud or oil or excrement. The children all come to the town where they are accepted into the homes of the villagers, Black Peter is banished into his stature, and Rose and Hans get married.

It's difficult to find accurate information about this movie online, but I did some research to discover that this was filmed in Germany and released in 1954. In 1965, the producer K. Gordon Murray bought the English language rights to the movie and had it dubbed into English. Instead of giving it a kiddie matinee release as he did with other similar acquisitions, he sold it as part of a package of kids movies for television broadcast. IMDb gives a 1961 release date for the movie, but that was apparently for a German reissue. It may have wound up in American theaters years later, but I couldn't confirm that. The basic plot involving the sisters is based directly on a Grimm Brothers folktale. In Europe, Black Peter is usually associated with St. Nicholas; how he wound up here is uncertain. Watching this as an adult is a bizarre experience, with unclear character motivations (who knows why Mother Holly, pictured at left, does what she does, why Hans feels the need to give all his money to the townspeople), unclear plot points (why couldn't the villagers have cleaned up the fountain during those earlier years, where did the orphans come from, can’t the villagers have sex), and unclear moral lessons, aside from hard work being rewarded. Though completely shot on outdoor locations, the whole thing does have an artificial feel to it which is a plus for a fairy tale movie. Much of the story is told less in dialogue than in narration by a rather overbearing narrator, so the acting is hard to judge. This is similar to those weird Russian folktale movies of the 60s like The Day the Earth Froze that Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured occasionally. It's interesting but probably not for kids. [YouTube]