To keep the kids occupied for a while yesterday I dug out the old 1950′s film “Hans Christian Anderson” satarring Danny Kaye. They sat transfixed! I’d forgotten much of the film and tho as an adult I still appreciated the music, the film itself was mind boggling!
The film paid scant attention to anything resembling the ‘reality’ of Anderson’s life or the times in which he lived and the flow of the film was sacrificed several times to ‘arty’ considerations, such as including an entirely too long ballet sequence. Nevertheless, the kids loved it. For them of course it was the first time so everything was totally new.
Personally, I’ve always had ‘concerns’ about Danny Kaye, not because of his lifestyle per se, but more because there always seemed to be an odd ‘look’ in his eyes – nothing more. His private life was his own and whether he had a long term affair with Laurence Olivier is neither here nor there, lots of people are gay yet don’t have that ‘look’ about them. I just felt something else was hidden away in there somewhere. He always seemed to be uncomfortable in public, and ‘out of place’ around people.
The songs of course were outstanding for the most part. Inch Worm, Thumbelina and the ever popular Ugly Duckling were as good as they were when I first heard them. It’s still a great kids film even after all these years so if you see a copy anywhere it’d be worth a few dollars to keep the kids quiet while you walk down memory lane.
Altogetehr now… Thumbelina, Thumbelina, tum te tum tum tum… 
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