HEIDI AND HER FRIENDS (1954, Switzerland)

Heidi and her Friends

(S'VRENELI VOM EGGISBERG)
(aka CHANSON DU PRINTEMPS, FRÜHLINGSLIED,
S'VRENELI VOM EGGISBERG-FRÜHLINGSLIED,
HEIDI UND IHRE FREUNDE-FRÜHLINGSLIED)
(1954, Switzerland) b/w 92 minutes
Dilbin Film, München-Genève
Screenplay by Peter Francke
Cinematography: Klaus von Rautenfeld
Music: Lothar Brühne
Edited by Walter Fredersdorf
Produced by Helmuth Schönnenbeck
Directed by Hans Albin

With: Elsbeth Sigmund (Heidi), Martin Andreas (Jöggi), Anne-Marie Blanc (Elisabeth Lander), René Deltgen (Eduard Fabricius), Oliver Grimm (Wolfgang Fabricius), Heinrich Gretler (Uncle Albert)

***

Plot Synopsis: The six year old wunderkind Wolfgang Fabricius is a hit at the Lucerne Festival, where his prodigious piano-playing skills both amaze and enchant everyone who sees him. But Wolfgang is unhappy, tired and overworked by his greedy Uncle Eduard, who sees nothing but fame and wealth ahead for his orphaned nephew. When an accident temporarily puts his Uncle out of action, the frail Wolfgang is sent to Eggisberg, high in the Swiss mountains, to recuperate at the home of the widow Elisabeth Lander.

Wolfgang soon befriends a local girl, Heidi, who takes him for walks through the idyllic countryside and shows him the wonder of nature as observed in the many farm animals in the area. However, Heidi's best friend, the bluff and uncouth goat-herd Jöggi, is less tolerant of this molly-coddled and timid townie, and takes to teasing and taunting poor Wolfgang whenever he can. Jöggi's jealousy casts a shadow over things, but eventually even he comes to accept and love the strangely sad newcomer. Wolfgang learns a traditional tune called 'Fruhlingsleid', and teaches Heidi to play the flute. In an impromptu organ recital in the local church Wolfgang amazes and moves his young friends with his keyboard talent.

Wolfgang is given a puppy, the first pet he has ever been allowed. When the puppy falls into a raging river, he leaps in bravely to rescue him, despite being unable to swim. Heidi hears Wolfgang's cries for help and she too enters the swirling waters and both children are carried relentlessly downstream where Jöggi is able to help them all ashore.

This cements their friendship, and when Wolfgang succumbs to a fever as a result of this adventure, Jöggi takes a herbal medicine concocted by his Uncle Albert to his young friend, and this does the trick and cures the sick child.

Wolfgang has not only gained his health by being in Eggisberg, but also claimed his childhood back from the exploitation of the concert circuit, but black clouds are forming on the horizon of happiness... Uncle Eduard is now recovered, and demands that his young nephew returns to the grind of touring Europe. A lucrative recording deal is being negotiated, with an American tour lined up... Elisabeth, wracked by maternal instincts, begs Eduard not to take Wolfgang away, but her entreaties are ignored. Wolfgang is driven away, leaving everyone, including Jöggi, in floods of tears.

The outcome is predictable... Wolfgang, pining for the freedom of the Swiss mountains and the company of his faithful friends, collapses during an encore at one of his concerts, as he attempts to play a version of his beloved 'Fruhlingslied'. In Switzerland his friends are watching that very performance on TV when the broadcast is terminated abruptly, much to their consternation. Wolfgang's Uncle, desperate not to lose his cash-cow, attempts to administer stimulant drugs to his nephew, but the plan is foiled by a canny doctor, who berates Eduard angrily before storming out in disgust... Shamed by this incident, his heart touched by the sadness in his nephew's eyes, Eduard melts and allows Wolfgang to return to his rural idyll where Elisabeth becomes his new mother. Heidi, Jöggi and Wolfgang are reunited, nevermore to be parted...

***

This most obscure of spin-offs of the hugely successful 1952 film HEIDI was originally called S'VRENELI VOM EGGISBERG when released in its native Switzerland, starring the entrancing former Heidi herself, Elsbeth Sigmund, in the role of a girl called Vreni. When re-dubbed into Hoch-Deutsch for the German market, she was renamed 'Heidi' to cash in on the fame of her former role, the film itself being retitled FRÜHLINGSLIED ('Spring Song'), later amended to HEIDI UND IHRE FREUNDE - FRÜHLINGSLIED for maximum impact. In fact this cheeky ploy, though understandable, is rather misleading, as Heidi/Vreni is not the main focus of this film, that honour going to the diminutive child-star charmer Oliver Grimm as Wolfgang Fabricius, the preteen wunderkind pianist.

However, despite being at best an ersatz Heidi film, HEIDI AND HER FRIENDS is a very good film in its own right, with its central theme being a cry for the right for children to enjoy a childhood free from adult exploitation. The juvenile cast is well-picked. As the unhappy Wolfgang, Oliver Grimm (son of director Hans Grimm) is pretty good throughout, though it's unwise to expect perfection from six-year-olds in a film of this vintage and he is occasionally a little stilted, his eyes flicking to the camera/director for guidance at odd intervals.

However, the scene in the church as Wolfgang plays the ancient organ, raising his infinitely sad eyes Heavenwards, is powerful indeed... Elsbeth Sigmund is ideally cast as Heidi/Vreni, and there is some great interplay between her and Martin Andreas' cocky Jöggi, with his jealousy for her protective friendship with little Wolfgang at times testing her patience to the limits. After HEIDI, Elsbeth Sigmund could be relied on to shine in whatever role she was given, and this film surely repays that trust.

Amongst the adult cast René Deltgen as the initially ruthless Eduard Fabricius is particularly noteworthy, his Mephistopholean beard giving him a suitably dastardly look, so much so that it's possible contemporary audiences hissed at him in true Panto-style whenever he hoved into view! The scene where Eduard attempts to drug his own nephew borders on the sordid, but the film's climax proves that even basilisk hearts can be melted by the sad eyes of a sick child...

Anne-Marie Blanc as the widowed Elisabeth Lander gives a powerful performance in the style of the times, though some modern viewers might find her fawning over Wolfgang a touch saccharine.

Another link to the 1952 HEIDI comes in the craggy form of actor Heinrich Gretler, who had portrayed Heidi's Grandfather in that film, going on to reprise the role alongside Elsbeth Sigmund once more in 1955's HEIDI AND PETER. In HEIDI AND HER FRIENDS he is bolshy Jöggi's clean-shaven Uncle Albert.

Even in crisp black and white the Swiss Alps look majestic and imposing, and the photography throughout this film is excellent, capturing the swirling mountain mists and mighty waterfalls as well as enhancing the set-bound interior scenes. Hans Albin directs efficiently, and the plot grips the viewer. A work of this quality should not be allowed to drop beneath the radar of fans of Euro-children's films, and luckily for them this film, though regarded as 'lost' outside of German-speaking territories, is readily available on both VHS and DVD in Germany and Switzerland, as well as receiving regular TV outings there.

The German DVD comes courtesy of a label called Best Buy Movie, and can be picked up fairly cheaply. Naturally enough it is in German, but the plot is easy to follow. The film is in its original full-frame ratio, and the soundtrack is clear enough given the recording technology of the early Fifties. Extras include a 'trailer' for the film that looks like it might have been knocked together by the DVD company, and trailers for other family films on the label. A quaint curio for Heidi Film completists and anyone who finds European Children's Cinema fascinating, though probably too dated to be of interest to today's CGI-weaned children... Their loss, methinks!

Video/DVD availability: VHS/DVD (Best Buy Movies)

Lonely little Wolfgang Fabricius (Oliver Grimm) befriends a neighbor's poodle.

Elsbeth Sigmund reprises her role as Heidi, child of the mountains!

Wolfgang!

Wolfgang teaches Heidi how to play the flute.

A boy and his dog.

The family watches Wolfgang perform live on TV, moments before his emotional collapse!

Heidi and Wolfgang - forever friends!