Snow White
and Rose Red
(aka SCHNEEWEISSCHEN UND ROSENROT)
With: Rosemarie Seehofer (Snow White), Nils Claunitzer (the Dwarf), Heini Gobel (Prince Goodheart), Ursula Herion (Rose Red), Richard Kruger (Prince Charming), Ruth von Zerboni (the Mother)
English-Language Version:
Plot Outline: An evil dwarf turns Prince Goodheart into a bear, but sisters Snow White & Rose Red help him conquer the little demon.
***
SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED is an exceptional and fascinating entry in the Childhood Productions canon. It boasts a handsome and entertaining source film, and adds a wonderful musical score by Anne & Milton Delugg, one of their best for the series.
The film features four attractive leads: Snow White, Rose Red, Price Charming and Prince Good heart. The real "star" of the piece, however, is surely the villain, a bizarre redheaded dwarf with a diabolical face and long, scraggly beard. This hilarious grotesque is a cross between Rumpelstiltskin, Rasputin and Rip Van Winkle. Shots of him running about, in fast motion, stealing everything in sight from travelers and foolish kingsmen, are some of the oddest in fairy tale cinema.
The blonde Snow White and the brunette Rose Red are both unusually fetching young ladies, although they do not show much personality. Narrator Paul Tripp makes his first comment almost halfway through the film, as he introduces Snow White and Rose Red to us. Comic relief is provided by Sir Nitwit, the Princes' bumbling, cowardly aide.
Unlike the other excellent Schonger fairy tales from West Germany, which tend to be studio-bound, the use of real-life settings in SNOW WHITE & ROSE RED such as deep forests, roaring brooks, magnificent castles and vintage housing, makes for a production with a "big" period look. The house where Snow and Rose live with their mother (and a dove and a lamb!) is a marvelous set, with an idyllic garden.
Some of the scenes, such as one where the girls feed a lovely deer, are downright pastoral. There is a sublime change-of-seasons montage. In Winter, after the Evil Dwarf changes Prince Goodheart into a bear (or more accurately, into a man in a bear suit), the bear comes to live with the girls and their mother, and there are some sweet hearth-side scenes. The climax occurs aside some lovely white-water rapids.
The Deluggs' score here is superb, and can also be heard on an RCA/Camden soundtrack LP (along with additional narration by Paul Tripp). The "theme song", is a catchy pop ditty sung by an eager, chirpy children's chorus. Another song by the children's chorus, "Dancing Bear", is pretty darn catchy too. White and Red sing a lovely accapella duet. There are also some rather avant-garde passages of electronic incidental music.
In a satisfying yet curious finale for a children's' film, the evil dwarf falls off a cliff to his death, and in so doing, the Bear is turned back into Prince Goodheart. As in the true fairy tale, there is no happy ending for evil here; Evil must be destroyed in order for Good to prosper. This is a message which Disney would never dare convey to its audience.
Other well-stated themes include the value of cooperation, the sanctity of personal freedom, and the noble character of one who does good works for the ungrateful.
In an archetypal happy ending, our fairy tale couples literally ride off into the sunset (accompanied by one of the Deluggs' most memorable fanfare endings), towards a glistening white castle, their new home. Now that's a fairy tale! SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED is a crown jewel of fairy tale cinema, quite charming and highly recommended.
Released on a boffo Kiddie Matinee double bill with the strange THE BIG BAD WOLF, this must have been a heck of an afternoon for young Baby Boomers!
Video/DVD availability:VHS (Goodtimes, Kid Rhino), DVD (???)
Links of related interest:
(1955, West Germany) color 55 minutes
Schonger-Film
Story: Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm, Wilhelm Carl Grimm
Screenplay: Konrad Lustig, Walter Oehmichen
Music: Oskar Sala
Cinematography: Wolf Schwann
Produced by Hubert Schonger
Directed by Erich Kobler
(1966) Childhood Productions 53 minutes (November release)
National Screen Service #66-276
Music: Anne & Milton Delugg
Orchestrations: George Brackman
Musical Director: Lehman Engel
Narrator: Paul Tripp
the original Grimm tale
