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From the outset, I'll state for the record that I'm aware that it's not cool to like movies like Heidi...especially if you're a straight male. That said, I don't care. I love these two movies, and I'll be happy to engage in fisticuffs with whomever has a problem with that; I'm willing to risk my street cred here. It's also not considered respectable to enjoy a Shirley Temple movie, but honestly, I believe that any fan of older films should love this one(and her film version of Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 novel, A Little princess). Wonderful stuff.
I think that simple, earnest movies don't get much respect in general, really. A story about sadness transformed into joy by the caring and generosity of others, about the love between family members(even relatively distant relations), or even just one that makes us smile at the pure happiness of an innocent child, doesn't make the average movie watcher perk up and want to blow fifteen bucks at the cinema. People in our culture are more socially programmed to find children irritating than as sources of real joy; the laughter of children as a tonic for the soul is very much a dying idea in these days of "me, me, me, mine, mine, mine". It's sad, really.
These are very nice film adaptations of the two-part novel by Swiss writer Johanna Spyri, written, as the book itself says, "for children and those who love children". Here are the basic cast and info of each:
I think that simple, earnest movies don't get much respect in general, really. A story about sadness transformed into joy by the caring and generosity of others, about the love between family members(even relatively distant relations), or even just one that makes us smile at the pure happiness of an innocent child, doesn't make the average movie watcher perk up and want to blow fifteen bucks at the cinema. People in our culture are more socially programmed to find children irritating than as sources of real joy; the laughter of children as a tonic for the soul is very much a dying idea in these days of "me, me, me, mine, mine, mine". It's sad, really.
These are very nice film adaptations of the two-part novel by Swiss writer Johanna Spyri, written, as the book itself says, "for children and those who love children". Here are the basic cast and info of each:
| HEIDI ~ 1937 Adlheid (Heidi): Shirley Temple Grandfather: Jean Hesholt Herr Sessemann: Sidney Blackmer Frl. Rottenmeier: Mary Nash Klara Sesemann: Marcia Mae Jones Peter: Delmar Watson Pastor Shultz: Thomas Beck | HEIDI ~ 1968 Adlheid (Heidi): Jennifer Edwards Grandfather: Michael Redgrave Herr Sessemann: Maximillian Schell Frl. Rottenmeier: Jean Simmons Klara Sesemann: Zuleika Robson Peter: John Moulder-Brown Father Richter: Walter Slezak |
The story is a simple one, but with refreshingly gritty realities woven in. Heidi is an orphan, who, since the death of her parents, has been raised by her aunt. Our story begins with a tough situation; her aunt is marrying, and her husband doesn't want to raise Heidi as his own...the aunt, being a spinster and a sourpuss, sees this as an easy choice. Heidi has to go. First, she goes to Heidi's uncle on her father's side, Herr Sessemann, but he is out of the country at that time, can't be depended on to take charge of the girl. Undaunted by this setback, she takes Heidi to their home village, in order to compel Heidi's grandfather into taking care of her. In what I see as a cowardly move, the aunt leaves Heidi in the hands of the local Priest, Father Richter/Pastor Shultz(depending on which version you're watching), to deliver her to grandfather.
Grandfather, in both movies, is a somber hermit; the death of his daughter, Heidi's mother, has bled the joie de vivre from his existence, and he lives in a cabin far from the village, up on the mountain. It's actually a simple, beautiful universe up there, but the people in the village are afraid of him, and if not for the Priest, he would have no company at all. I couldn't be more impressed by two performances of the same character. Both Michael Redgrave and Jean Hersholt really capture the soul of the man; externally bitter and dismissive of life, but internally a warm, richly human person, just waiting for something to change his mind about the way that things could be.
Grandfather, in both movies, is a somber hermit; the death of his daughter, Heidi's mother, has bled the joie de vivre from his existence, and he lives in a cabin far from the village, up on the mountain. It's actually a simple, beautiful universe up there, but the people in the village are afraid of him, and if not for the Priest, he would have no company at all. I couldn't be more impressed by two performances of the same character. Both Michael Redgrave and Jean Hersholt really capture the soul of the man; externally bitter and dismissive of life, but internally a warm, richly human person, just waiting for something to change his mind about the way that things could be.
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Honestly, though Heidi is the main character here, I believe that it's Grandfather's tale, and Heidi is just the catalyst for his personal transformation. The fabric of the story is structured in such a way that when Heidi is introduced into his life, then pulled away, and then finally returned to him, we see what a very powerful force for healing that innocence and love can be for a person. To me it shows how a profound event, such as a child's death, can drive people into isolation, and the rejection and loneliness of that isolation can lead to a wasted life. I've seen it so many times; otherwise vibrant people knocked into dark places by pain...and very few have a Heidi to pull them out. So few people have the force to get out of that place once they are in it, and the misery of it can make them bitter and unpleasant to be around, which creates further isolation. There are many people who become burnouts at a certain age, and though they may really want to change things, a great many can't do so without help. Grandfather, up on his mountain, is one of those.
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Plot-wise, these are two different experiences; the divergences in story and tone are just broad enough that one can watch both back-to-back (which I just did) without feeling like one is a rehash of the other. There are some key plot variations, and even an almost Jekyll/Hyde difference between Mary Nash and Jean Simmons' portrayals of Fraulein Rottenmeier. Shirley Temple's version, of course, has some songs (with Arthur Treacher as the butler, this should not be a surprise), and the vibe that Jennifer Edwards brings is more earnest and innocent than Shirley's cheerful, spunky approach. Both make me feel actual happiness when watching them (I almost wrote, "as sad as that is"...which is actually sad in itself), and the simple acts of love and openness between the Heidi's and the other characters make me tear up every time I watch.
It's uplifting to see a classic story this well told, and without the post-modern cynicism (or the corresponding syrupy backlash common in current "family" fare). It's also interesting to see the way that Heidi is treated by the directors of these movies in relation to the way she might be treated today; her circumstance is harsh, but she isn't a victim, and the relatives who are pushing and pulling at her aren't cardboard villains...they're real people with their own needs and ideas. At no point are we asked to feel pity for her, and she asks for none. In each of these stories she goes about the task of loving and hopefully, of being loved, and her attitude effects change in the people around her. That's what makes these two movies special.
To take it out of the philosophical realm, also very special is the splendid casting of both films. Both Heidis and Grandfathers are excellent, and the rest of the actors, Maximillian Schell, Jean Simmons, Walter Slezak, Mary Nash and Arthur Treacher (the latter two, along with Marcia Mae Jones, played alongside Shirley Temple in A Little Princess) do what they do so very well; all very credible and heartwarming performances.
I hope that you can set your biases aside (if you have such) and will give these two movies a shot; they certainly can make you feel pretty darn good if you let them, in true classic movie style.
It's uplifting to see a classic story this well told, and without the post-modern cynicism (or the corresponding syrupy backlash common in current "family" fare). It's also interesting to see the way that Heidi is treated by the directors of these movies in relation to the way she might be treated today; her circumstance is harsh, but she isn't a victim, and the relatives who are pushing and pulling at her aren't cardboard villains...they're real people with their own needs and ideas. At no point are we asked to feel pity for her, and she asks for none. In each of these stories she goes about the task of loving and hopefully, of being loved, and her attitude effects change in the people around her. That's what makes these two movies special.
To take it out of the philosophical realm, also very special is the splendid casting of both films. Both Heidis and Grandfathers are excellent, and the rest of the actors, Maximillian Schell, Jean Simmons, Walter Slezak, Mary Nash and Arthur Treacher (the latter two, along with Marcia Mae Jones, played alongside Shirley Temple in A Little Princess) do what they do so very well; all very credible and heartwarming performances.
I hope that you can set your biases aside (if you have such) and will give these two movies a shot; they certainly can make you feel pretty darn good if you let them, in true classic movie style.
As a final note to all the Shirley Temple haters out there, here is an animation of Grandfather tossing the evil Mary Nash/Fraulein Rottenmeier (...as opposed to the angelic Frau Rottenmeier played by Jean Simmons) on her face! Take that! No wussy movie of today would have even a wicked harpy like her hurled face-down into the snow for trying to sell our beloved Adelheid to the gypsies!
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