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THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM (1962)
Deluxe 2-Disc Special Edition
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: G
Duration: 140 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.85:1)
Director: George Pal & Henry Lavine
Cast: Buddy Hackett, Beulah Bondi, Laurence Harvey, Karl Boehm, Yvette Mimieux, Claire Bloom, Jim Backus, Russ Tamblyn, Walter Slezak, Terry-Thomas, Oskar Homolka, Barbara Eden
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) was the first narrative film to be shot in the premium curved widescreen Cinerama format, co-directed by George Pal (War of the Worlds) and Henry Levin (Journey to the Center of the Earth) the Technicolor fantasy tale tells the fictionalized story of the titular Brothers Grimm. Daydreamer Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey, The Deep) and his more serious-minded sibling Jacob (Karl Boehm, Peeping Tom) have been employed by a Bavarian duke (Oscar Homolka, Mr. Sardonicus) who gives them free room and board in exchange for chronically his family history. Issues arise when the Duke discovers that Wilhelm, who finds writing the Duke's family history quite boring, has been spending his time on the Duke's dime writing fairytales that he has collected from local folklore and storytellers who inhabit the area, in hopes of publishing a children's book, but the local bookseller Stossel (Walter Slezak, Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion) doubts there's any money to be made in fairytales for children. As the movie unfolds the brothers find themselves in danger of being evicted from their rent-free abodes by the Duke and being sent to debtor's prison, unless Wilhelm can turn his fairytale craft into a lucrative career. As the wraparound, directed by Levin, unfolds we are treated to a trio of fairytales sequences, directed by George Pal, that are gorgeous, wonderful and quite dazzling with eye-popping Technicolor and ultra widescreen Cinerama.
The trio of fairytales are "The Dancing Princess", "The Cobbler and the Elves" and "The Singing Bone". The Dancing Princess stars Yvette Mimieux (The Black Hole) and Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Jacoby from Twin Peaks) as a Princess and the woodsman who attempts to earn her favor after her father the King (Jim Backus, Gilligan's Island) tasks the woodsman with a quest. This one involves a gorgeous, almost psychedelic, woodland dance, an invisible cloak, and a wild stagecoach ride through the forest. Up next is "The Cobbler and the Elves" of a Cobbler (Lawrence Harvey again) who receives a Christmas miracle by way of some Puppatoon stop-motion animated Elves that spring to life to help him finish up an important shoe order. The Elves are sort of creepy looking but cool, and Harvey makes a great Geppetto-esque shoe cobbler. The final fantasy sequence is the best in my opinion, “The Singing Bone” tells the tale of a dim-witted and cowardly knight named Sir Ludwig (Terry-Thomas, Munster, Go Home!) and his chubby but resourceful squire Hans (Buddy Hackett, Scrooged), as they attempt to slay a dragon in a cave and reap the rewards. This one has some terrific stop-motion dragon effects and wonderfully antiquated dragon's fire animation. Hackett and Terry-Thomas are quite fun together with lots of slapstick humor and a cool-looking gem-stone encrusted dragon.
The wraparound story stuff directed by Levin dragged a bit for me, there's perhaps a bit too much of it involving a would-be love interest for the dull brother, but we do get some excitement with Wilhelm, as he goes to great lengths to documents tales being told by a woman (Martita Hunt, The Brides of Dracula) who lives in the woods. His quest for stories continues to land him and his brother in hot water, and while later trying to rectify the situation falls into some icy waters, giving him pneumonia which threatens to kill him, causing him to hallucinate all of his future creations who implore him to hang-on so that they may live as well. While I think it's a tad long in the tooth I can say that every scene frame of this film is a marvel, the ultra-wide three panel Cinerama process combined with the natural beauty of the European locations and medieval castles, cobblestone street villages and deep forests help sell the fairytale aspects of it. If anything I only wish we hade two more fairytale sequences and a bit less of the wraparound story, regardless, the positives far outweigh any of minor issues I might have - this is a must-own fantasy film.
Audio/Video: The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Warner Archive in the original 2.89:1 Cinerama aspect ratio from restored 1080p HD masters from 6K composite scan of original Cinerama 3-panel camera negatives. This is simply one of the best looking restorations I have seen in quite a while, with a lush technicolors that light up the screen and impressive fine detail throughout, it's nothing short of a film restoration miracle. There's a crispness to the image and impressive clarity and depth that sort of boggles the mind, this is just wonderful stuff. We get two options for viewing, we have a letterbox version on disc one and a Smilebox version that replicates the enveloping 3-panel curve of the Cinerama experience. At first I thought I was leaning towards the letterbox version, but the more I watched the Smilebox version the more I preferred it. I highly recommend watching the restoration doc on disc 2 that is finely detailed in it's depiction of what a lavish restoration this was, painstakingly removing mold, dirt, water damage and the Cinerama join lines. There were a few moments I could see faint joint lines but they were few and far between, this is outstanding work. See a comparison of the Letterbox vs Smilebox framing below and over a hundred Smilebox screenshots at the bottom of the review. Audio comes by way of uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround with optional English subtitles. This is a restoration of the original Cinerama 7-channel audio, and like the visuals it's a dazzling piece of work with wonderful depth and clarity, the fidelity is terrific and the dynamic score by Leigh Harline (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) with instantly hummable songs by songwriter Bob Merrill, who penned the pop tune "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?".
Smilebox vs Letterbox Version:
Top: Smilebox Version
Bottom: Letterbox Version
Special Features:
Disc 1 (Letterbox Version)
- Brothers Grimm Cinerama Announcement Trailer (5 min) HD
-Brothers Grimm Theatrical Letterbox Trailer (3 min) HD
- Brothers Grimm Radio Interview with Russ Tamblyn (5 min) HD
- Brothers Grimm Radio Interview with Yvette Mimiuex (6 min) HD
- Epic Art for the Brothers Grimm (7 min) HD
- The Wonderful Career of George Pal (9 min) HD
Disc 2 (Smilebox Version)
- Brothers Grimm Cinerama Announcement Trailer (5 miN) HD
- Brothers Grimm Theatrical Smilebox Trailer (2 min) HD
- Rescuing a Fantasy Classic (40 min) HD
- Rothenberg, German Location Commemorative Plaque (1 min) HD
-A Salute to William R. Forman (2 min) HD
- Brothers Grimm Slideshow (12 min) HD
- 8-page Collector's Booklet that is a partial replica of the original souvenir program sold in theaters during the film’s original theatrical roadshow engagements
Screenshots from the Warner Archive Blu-ray
(Smilebox Version):
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