Heidi

(1965, West Germany/Austria) color 110/89 minutes
Eichberg-Film GmbH / Sascha Film / F.J. Lucas
Story: Johanna Spyri (from her novel)
Music by Franz Grothe
Cinematography: Richard Angst
Screenplay: Michael Haller
Produced by Richard Deutsch, Herbert Gruber, Karl Schwetter
Directed by Werner Jacobs

English-Language Version:
(1968) 95 minutes
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts

With: Eva Maria Singhammer (Heidi), Michaela May (as "Gertraude Mittermayr")(Clara Sesemann), Jan Koester (Peter), Gustav Knuth (Grandfather), Margot Trooger (Miss Rottenmeier), Ernst Schröder (Herr Sesemann), Lotte Ledl (Aunt Dete), Margarete Haagen (Rolf Möbius (Dr. Klassen), Rudolf Vogel (Sebastian)

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Here is another Heidi film which we have not been able to locate. It was released widely in Europe in the mid-60's, and had a successful Kiddie Matinee run in the U.S. in 1968, yet since then, viewings on TV have been scarce. Oddly, it seems not to have ever been released to home video by its U.S. rights-owners, Warner Brothers/Seven Arts.

Oddly, the engaging Eva Maria Singhammer seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth after her one starring role! Even more ironic, Michaela May, who played Clara (billed as "Gertraude Mittermayr"), went on to a fabulous film career, and boasts an impressive fan base.

Due to its similar time frame, many people confuse this HEIDI with the 1968 NBC TV film starring Jennifer Edwards and Maximillian Schell. Yet a full-color live-action version of the Spyri tale, filmed in its original locale, simply has to be interesting. Until then, we can enjoy these U.S. lobby card images, and hope for the best!

(08-03-05) Steve Burstein adds: HEIDI'S composer, Franz Grothe was a hit songwriter in the 1930's and 1940's in Germany.

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DVD REVIEW by Nigel Burrell (02-20-05)

This mid-sixties Austrian/West German outing for Johanna Spyri's timeless little heroine Heidi, here portrayed more than charmingly by the stocky, apple dumpling-cheeked Eva Maria Singhammer, sees the story updated accordingly, though you wouldn't necessarily know it from the Swiss-set locations which seem glazed in a nostalgic 'Olde Worlde' aspic.

All the better to offset the Frankfurt adventures of the confused 8 year-old protagonist, especially during her pilgrimage to the Cathedral tower, where the bemused Heidi finds herself jostling with crowds of pedestrians as cars and trams roar past her, the onscreen visuals set to 'modern' jazzy music... all the hustle and bustle seems a million miles from yodeling and Alpenhorns! Frankfurt is definitely fizzing, if not swinging like London! This also allows for pretty Miss Singhammer to show off a pleasing variety of then-contemporary juvenile fashions and mini-model buns and bouffant hairstyles, though somehow she looks most endearing in her clunkier, more practical, mountain-child outfits.

Some compression has been applied to the original story, so the film begins with Heidi already happily ensconced with her Grandfather (Gustav Knuth). After a few pleasant interludes with goat-herd Peter (Jan Koester), including a bell raising ceremony, Heidi is abducted by her scheming Aunt Dete (Lotte Ledl), thereby leading to the bulk of the film unfolding in the aforementioned big city setting. At the Sesemann house, Heidi is introduced to a notably placid and friendly Klara (Michaela May, here billed as 'Gertraude Mittermayr') in a break from the traditionally jealous, hostile spoilt brat - this is definitely a benign, almost sanitized, version of the familiar tale.

Fret not though, for Governess Miss Rottenmeier (has there ever been a more apt-sounding name?!) is on hand to add dollops of misery to Heidi's life, and those of you who are fans of the late-Sixties Swedish/German PIPPI LONGSTOCKING TV series and films will immediately recognize the steely features of Margot Trooger: in this role she seems to be rehearsing her Miss Prysselius character!

However, Heidi has a friend and confidant in the kindly servant/butler Sebastian (Rudolph Vogel), and some great scenes revolve around the interplay between them. The film proceeds apace and it doesn't seem too long before Heidi has helped Klara to walk, this episode taking place in Frankfurt rather than on the Alpine slopes as in most film and TV versions, and the homesick child returns to her Grandfather in a scene that never fails to be moving.

Despite the slightly rushed plot, this version of “Heidi” remains a decent portrayal of Johanna Spyri's book, and the updating of the story to the 1960s works well enough - my favorite 'culture-shock' moment is when Heidi, at Frankfurt Airport to meet Klara's father (Ernst Schröder) home from a trip, presses her face in awe against the window-glass, gaping at the planes taking off and landing!

Eva Maria Singhammer is a heart-melting Heidi, whose rosy-cheeks and bee-stung lips tug at the viewers' heartstrings on more than one occasion - the scene where she breaks down in tears after finding a photo of her home village in a book on Switzerland given to her by a well-meaning Herr Sesemann is particularly heart-rending. An endearingly small and sturdy figure over whom nearly every other cast member towers, but with such obvious screen presence, it is astounding that this film seems to have been Miss Singhammer's only role... What a waste of such a fresh and attractive talent! Michaela May had more luck in this department, enjoying a lengthy film career.

Direction by veteran film-helmer Werner Jacobs is hard to fault, and the score by noted film-composer Franz Grothe deftly counterbalances the light jolliness of Heidi's theme against the urban bustle of the upbeat jazzy interludes. And as one would expect (nay, demand!) from a Heidi film the Alpine scenery is sumptuous, courtesy of Richard Angst, who also did a sterling job with the city location shoots, especially in the Frankfurt Dom scenes, where our half-pint heroine peers in vain from the lofty tower for a glimpse of her beloved Alps.

Though the English-dubbed export print seems to have dropped beneath the radar for now, over in the 'Old Continent' this film is easily available in German, on both VHS and DVD, in Germany and Switzerland, from the Junior label. It's an okay print, colorful if quite scratch-damaged at times, slightly cropped to full-frame from its original ratio, running almost dead-on 89 minutes at PAL speed. Until an English-speaking version surfaces this release can be clearly recommended to Heidi film fans.

Video/DVD availability: VHS, DVD (Junior {Europe only})

Posters for the 1965 Italian and 1968 U.S. releases of HEIDI. Also the new DVD cover.

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the U.S. lobby card images.