DIE BREMER STADT-MUSIKANTEN (1959, Icestorm Distribution, 73m 37s PAL): This is the original German-language version of the film released to the US kiddie matinee market as THE BREMER TOWN MUSICIANS by K. Gordon Murray's Childhood Productions in late 1965. Based on the Brothers Grimm fable, it's a story that might have struck a more commercial nerve with the title THE BREMER TOWN MUSICIANS HAUNT A HOUSE. It's about an aging, overworked, and unappreciated donkey who discovers a discarded banjo while carrying grain for milling and finds that playing it makes him happy. He decides to run away with it, where he makes another discovery on the open road: a poster announcing that the city of Bremer is looking for instrumentalists to join their official state orchestra. The donkey decides to make this his new goal and, along the way, WIZARD OF OZ-like, he meets a similarly misfit dog, cat, and rooster, who are also good at making music so they form a band of their own. Needing shelter once the weather turns cold, the innocent, trusting animals fall into a trap laid by a band of jolly robbers that leads them to their hideout; however, the resourceful critters turn the tables on their captors with a plan to scare them away.
Directed by Rainer Geis (his only effort in this genre), this children's musical - to be honest - isn't particularly winning as cinema; however, if approached as a piece of live theater on film, it is remarkably entertaining and still looks fresh after more than 60 years. The animals, of course, are played by actors in costume and occasionally pantomime to winning music (as do the villains) by Raimund Rosenberger, whose work was replaced for the American market with original songs by Paul Tripp. When the rooster flies and the cat climbs a tree, we see the ropes (not wires - actual ROPES!) pulling them up - and, if you're attentive, you might even spot the moment when the rooster passes too near a lit candle, causing one of his tail feathers to sizzle and smoke. Therefore, while this entertainment might be too naïve a confection for older kids sated only by the latest upgrades in razzle-dazzle, it should appeal to younger kids with an interest in music and costume play, as well as adults with a taste for the nostalgic and bizarre. Mind you, this is a full decade before The Banana Splits, not to mention prior to the Mexican fairy tale films that Childhood Productions also acquired. Alas, this disc is not English friendly, but if you can find a copy of the English-language version, you'll see that the soundtrack is really all it has to offer. It's also about 7m shorter than the German version, which also offers so much more in the departments of color, beauty, and sharpness of detail.
This film is but one of a whole series of German fairy tales produced by Hubert Shonger Filmproduktion in the 1950s, which have been released on German DVD by Icestorm Distribution GmnH, both individually and in three box sets (containing four movies each) bearing the umbrella title DIE SCHÖNSTEN MÄRCHEN DER BRÜDER GRIMM ("The Most Beautiful Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm"). This charming body of work - which includes other films imported and often cut for pacing by K. Gordon Murray, such as RUMPLESTILTSKIN and PUSS IN BOOTS - collectively represent an important serial event in international fantasy cinema and really deserves preservation and the appreciation of a wider audience on English-friendly Blu-rays.
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