A small-town shoemaker with a knack for spinning yarns, Hans encounters happiness and heartbreak on his road to becoming a full-fledged writer.
Acting
Danny Kaye's physical comedy and heartbreaking vulnerability
Score
Frank Loesser's songs that slap harder than they should
Costume
Anton Grot's candy-colored Copenhagen fantasy land
Director
Charles Vidor
Danny Kaye
Hans Christian Andersen
Farley Granger
Niels
Zizi Jeanmaire
Doro
Joseph Walsh
Peter
Philip Tonge
Otto
John Qualen
Burgomaster
Erik Bruhn
The Hussar - Danced by
Roland Petit
The Prince in 'The Little Mermaid' Ballet
John Brown
Schoolmaster
George Chandler
Farmer
Fred Kelsey
First Gendarme
Lee Aaker
Little Boy (uncredited)
Billy Bevan
Town Councilman (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Hans Christian Andersen was allegedly even more disastrous romantically — he once kept a letter from a woman's fiancé under his pillow. This movie soft-pedals him HARD.
This was Hollywood's answer to Britain's prestige costume dramas, casting an American comedian as Denmark's national treasure — Europeans were NOT amused.
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