The Grimm brothers Wilhelm and Jacob, known for their literary works in the nineteenth century, have their lives dramatized. Wilhelm fights to write something entertaining amongst the sea of dry, non-fiction books they write and he sets about collecting oral-tradition fairy tales to put into print. Their life story is countered with reenactments of three of their stories including "The Dancing Princess," "The Cobbler and the Elves" and "The Singing Bone."
Production
Cinerama curved-screen spectacle that screams 'we spent EVERY penny'
Costume
The Dancing Princess sequence is pure Technicolor eye candy
Practical Effects
Pre-CGI puppetry and effects that aged weirdly but charmingly
Director
George Pal
Laurence Harvey
Wilhelm Grimm / Cobbler (segment "The Cobbler and the Elves")
Karlheinz Böhm
Jacob Grimm
Claire Bloom
Dorothea Grimm
Walter Slezak
Stossel
Barbara Eden
Greta Heinrich
Oskar Homolka
The Duke ('The Dream')
Arnold Stang
Rumpelstiltskin
Martita Hunt
Anna Richter
Betty Garde
Miss Bettenhausen
Bryan Russell
Friedrich Grimm
Ian Wolfe
Gruber
Tammy Marihugh
Pauline Grimm
Cheerio Meredith
Mrs. Von Dittersdorf
Walter Rilla
Priest
Yvette Mimieux
The Princess (segment "The Dancing Princess")
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
George Pal's 'Puppetoons' stop-motion experience shaped the elf sequences, while Henry Levin handled the dramatic Grimm brothers storyline—making this two distinct films stitched together.
This was Cinerama's first narrative feature after travelogues, and it bombed so hard it nearly killed the format—audiences wanted explosions, not dancing princesses on curved screens.
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