Heidi (1952)

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Movie
Original title Heidi
Country of production Switzerland
original language German , Swiss German
Publishing year 1952
length 100 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Luigi Comencini
script Richard Schweizer
Johanna Spyri
production Praesens-Film AG, Zurich
( Peter Riethof ,
Lazar Wechsler )
music Robert Blum
camera Emil Berna
Peter Frischknecht
cut Hermann Haller
occupation

Heidi is a Swiss black and white film from 1952. It is based freely on the Heidi novel of the same name by Johanna Spyri . Directed by Luigi Comencini , Elsbeth Sigmund plays the title role . Heinrich Gretler can be seen as Alp-Oehi, Thomas Klameth as Geissenpeter, Isa Günther as Klara Sesemann and Willy Birgel as Consul Sesemann. Theo Lingen plays the servant Sebastian, who supports Heidi in the elegant Sesemann house, and Carl Wery the understanding family doctor. At the time, the film company ran the headline Heidi - Longing for Home .

The film was shot in Bergün and its districts Latsch and Stuls as well as on the Filisurer Alp Falein (all in the canton of Graubünden ).

action

Heidi lives with her grandfather, Alp-Oehi. Together with her friend, Peter the goat, she spends a good time in the Swiss mountains.

The village priest visits the mountain farmer. He asks him to come to the village with Heidi because the new church bells are to be hung. A village festival is organized around hanging bells and traditionally it is up to the children to help hang the bells and Heidi should not be missing. In addition, she could make friends with the children of the village on this occasion, since she would soon have to attend the village school anyway. The Alp-Oehi is not at all enthusiastic about it because he has quarreled with the village population. This accuses him of being to blame for a fire that burned down five houses and the church tower. The fact is, however, that the uncle neither caused the fire nor is otherwise to blame, but even lost his only son, Heidi's father, during the rescue work. A short time later, Heidi's mother also died from grief over the loss.

Aunt Dete, a sister of Heidi's mother, was given custody of Heidi. Since she had started a job in Frankfurt , she had left Heidi to Alp-Oehi without further ado.

Dete has meanwhile remembered the child. She is employed as a cook in the manorial house of Sesemann. Mr. Sesemann is looking for a companion for his daughter Klara, because Klara has been paralyzed since she suffered from diphtheria . Heidi should now take on this role. Without further ado, Dete outwits Alp-Oehi and kidnaps Heidi to Frankfurt.

Heidi quickly becomes friends with Klara and helps her wherever she can. However, in her unsophisticated naturalness she is the horror of the posh, squeamish Miss Rottenmeyer, governess Klaras. All the servants, especially the house servant Sebastian, are very impressed by Heidi's warmth. And then something like a small miracle happens. Klara, strengthened by Heidi's loving care, will one day be able to take the first steps on her own again. When Mr. Sesemann returns from a long trip, he can hug his healthy child, beaming with joy. Out of gratitude he wants to accept Heidi, who performed this miracle, in place of a child . But the longing for home and the grandfather does not let go of the girl.

After Heidi sleepwalked and even fell seriously ill, the understanding doctor Classen, a good friend of the Sesemann family, advised Mr. Sesemann to let Heidi go back to her home country with her grandfather. And so it happens. Before that, the friends give each other a firm promise that Klara will visit Heidi during the holidays.

The disputes between the Alp-Oehi and the villagers are also settled and on Sunday the grandfather enters the village church with Heidi by the hand.

production

Creation of the film

When the production company Praesens-Film ( “ It happened in bright day ” ) was struggling through insolvency problems in 1950, the decision was made for a project that could be implemented quickly and that would be uncomplicated, close to the people and cheap to produce. One thought of the worldwide success that Johanna Spyri had with her children's book Heidi . The material had already been filmed with Shirley Temple in 1937 , but this film adaptation was not a great success. When it was made into a film by Praesens-Film, Switzerland dared to make the first ever German-language film.

When it came to directing it, it was decided that Luigi Comencini (1916–2007), an Italian of Swiss descent, was given by Leopold Lindtberg ( "Wachtmeister Studer" ) who refused to direct the planned film. Comencini had already worked successfully with children. Productions with orphan girls in the style of a mountain and homeland film with the idyll of mountains, valleys and alpine huts were well received by the audience at the time.

In search of the children (Heidi and Peter), Comencini visited a number of villages and schools with Emil Berna (camera) and Uors von Planta (production manager) and made recordings of candidates with no gaming experience with a 16 mm camera. With Elsbeth Sigmund from Kemptthal and Thomas Klameth from Küsnacht, Comencini had found the ideal cast for him; the successful test performance with the candidates in a packed cinema in Zurich also convinced the producers of the correctness of his choice. The other roles were cast with many popular Swiss actors and, as a concession to the German market, with actors such as Willy Birgel, Theo Lingen (in a typical servant role) and Isa Günther (from Kästner's " Das doppelte Lottchen " ).

Maienfeld as the setting for the novel had already been structurally changed too much, which is why the film was mainly shot in the Bergün area. Even with the outdoor shots in Frankfurt, due to the rubble of the Second World War, one had to make do with shots of Basel and photo montages. The studio Bellerive in Zurich served as a studio . Apart from Bergün and Frankfurt, other exterior shots were taken in Latsch GR , Pontresina and in the canton of Valais . Werner Schlichting created the buildings, production management was in the hands of producer Lazar Wechsler and Uors von Planta .

success

At almost CHF 600,000, “Heidi” was more expensive than expected in the end. However, the costs were quickly recovered because the extensive advertising was also successful in Germany (600,000 visitors). The successes: Very long running times in Switzerland (17 weeks in Zurich ), use of 300 copies in over 4,000 cinemas in the USA (despite clumsy dubbing and black and white film), sale of the film in other countries, various international ones Awards (award for best youth film on the occasion of the Venice Biennale ).

Publication and continuation

The film had its premiere in Switzerland on November 14, 1952, in the Federal Republic of Germany it was released on December 23, 1952, in Austria under the title Heidi - Sehnsucht nach Heimat in January 1953. The ZDF first broadcast the film on December 25, 1968.

Universum Film GmbH released a DVD of this film on October 23, 2006.

In 1955 a sequel was shot with the same actors under the title " Heidi and Peter " . There is also another film, " Heidi and Her Friends " from 1953. However, this has no contextual connection with the aforementioned Heidi films, in the film, which is also set in the mountains, Elsbeth Sigmund and Heinrich Gretler play roles similar to in the other two films.

criticism

Katja Hemmer from SWR stated: “The black and white film adaptation from 1952 is considered the best of all Heidi adaptations - and the most famous Swiss film of all. In his staging, director Luigi Comencini relies on impressive mountain shots, idyllic valleys, alpine huts and mountain streams - in keeping with the style of mountain and Heimat films. [...] After the horrors of World War II and the hard reconstruction, people had a need for idyll, for tranquility and a happy ending, which they are granted. "

Cinema's judgment was identical: "The black and white film from 1952 is still considered the best adaptation of the classic children's book."

For the lexicon of international film , the film presented itself as "conventional in terms of material and staging", "but quite appealing because of the natural presentation". There, too, the verdict was: "Still the best implementation of the classic children's book."

Awards

literature

  • Johanna Spyri: Heidi. Heidi's apprenticeship and wandering years . With pictures by Hans G. Schellenberger. (Unabridged version of the original text from 1880.) Arena, Würzburg 2004, ISBN 3-401-05706-5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Bauer: German feature film Almanach. Volume 2: 1946-1955 , p. 262
  2. ↑ Heidi DVD
  3. ↑ Heidi - 1952 DVD (Swiss dialect)
  4. ↑ Katja Hemmer: Classic film «Heidi» (1952) at swr.de. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
  5. ↑ Heidi (1952) at cinema.de (with 24 pictures of the film)
  6. ↑ Heidi. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used