User Reviews

I had the pleasure of seeing this in what was touted as its first showing in 51 years (hard to prove that) at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York today (10 October 2009). The credits are impressive -- no expense was spared, evidently, in hiring top professionals from the theater and movies: the "Meet Me in St. Louis" team of Hugh Martin and Sally Benson as writers, conductor Franz ("My Fair Lady") Allers, orchestrator Irwin Kostal (between gigs on "West Side Story" and "Fiorello!"), choreographer John Butler, and director Sidney Lumet. Seeing it the same day as a near-contemporary TV musical effort, "The Bachelor," it was clear that the level of imagination and skill on this project was something quite special. Instead of flat-on "TV" type camera work, "Hans Brinker" camera is elaborately choreographed, including dolly and crane shots, making the most of some pretty spectacular ice choreography. Tab Hunter, as always, is a pleasure to look at (has anyone ever had a more perfect set of features?) and, despite his still-lingering critical reputation, proves himself here (as elsewhere, in "Battle Cry," for example) quite an ardent and affecting actor, not to mention a better than decent singer and -- biggest surprise, perhaps -- an excellent ice skater. Peggy King sings her numbers beautifully, Carmen Mathews (veteran of many a Broadway flop) is a convincing and lively grandmother, and Jarmila Novotna sings like an angel her little lullaby "Trinka Brinker" -- which, I know, sounds hokey, but is one of Martin's classically beautiful, highly chromatic melodies. Of course the only relic of the visual production is a kinescope (interspersed with charmingly dated Hallmark Valentine's Day card ads) -- in black and white. (Apparently kinescopes were made solely for copyright purposes, since no one seems to have ever considered that making color films of color shows might be worth the trouble for future viewers. It was expected there wouldn't be any -- and of course that's very nearly true.) This is worth seeking out. It would be nice to have it on DVD, but of course I'm dreaming. (A cast album was released -- it's pretty rare now, and has never been released on CD, to my knowledge -- by Dot Records, then heart-throb singing star Hunter's label.)

I attended the same New York City screening of 'Hans Brinker' as IMDb reviewer "tentender", which in fact was at the Paley Center for Media (they haven't called it the Museum of Broadcasting for several years now). The screening was attended by two of the original cast members, singer Peggy King and skater Ellie Sommers (still impressively beautiful a half century later!), and they kindly offered their memories of the production. 'Hans Brinker' was filmed live in a Brooklyn studio filled with 50,000 pounds of ice! It melted quickly under the hot lights necessary for colour filming.

Tentender's review of 'Hans Brinker' is mostly accurate. The camera work, colour photography and production values are remarkable. Hallmark clearly spent a lot of money on this ice-skating musical. (No cheap skates, they.) I was disappointed that cast members Basil Rathbone and John Fiedler were given so little to do. In the post-screening discussion, Peggy King recalled that the entire production was done quickly, with almost no rehearsal time ... and, since she had no prior skating experience, this was especially unsettling for her.

I've never taken Tab Hunter seriously, but in the title role here he skates very impressively. In the discussion afterwards, Ellie Sommers revealed that Hunter had been California regional skating champion during his high-school years.

I wish that I could praise this musical's score. The songs by Hugh Martin are lacklustre. Martin wrote some excellent songs elsewhere in collaboration with Ralph Blane, but as a solo songwriter he doesn't cut any ice (sorry!). Peggy King recalled for us that Martin had prepared for this project by taking a research trip to Holland. I'm no expert on Netherlands music, but Martin's score sounds like some Hollywood tunesmith's version of Dutch folksongs. Which I wouldn't mind if his songs were catchier. Peggy King's songs were written and arranged in operetta-style, which I feel was a poor decision.

The Paley Center's staffer Rebecca Paller told us that 'Hans Brinker' had 60 million viewers for its original 1958 transmission, and that this was the biggest audience for a 'Hallmark Hall of Fame' special for the next 14 years. So then why has this programme been locked away for half a century? 'Hans Brinker' could've done with a bit less glitz and a better score. Despite my quibbles, the cast is excellent and the skating is certainly impressive by any standard. I hope that this recording becomes available for home viewing. Too bad that the sexy ice-skater Belita wasn't in the cast ... or even Sonja Henie. My rating for this one is 7 out of 10.