...and that includes dogs, cows, horses, pigs on a barrel and those of the human variety. The birds can fly, joining the exotic variety which has probably never seen a duck in its life. Thomas Mitchell, the pop from "Gone With the Wind", takes on the role of another literary patriarch, a successful businessman who immigrated from Switzerland to England, and now wants to find a new home with the Napoleonic wars approaching. And what a home they find, but in this case, it is not Disney style.
This version of the Johann David Wyss novel is in glorious black and white, and is all the better for it. While the Disney version is worthy of its classic status, this version has been wrongfully overlooked, with a lesson pre-war of survival and growing up, and what living on this earth is all about. Mitchell and his wife (Edna Best) have strived to raise their children with dignity and ideals, but they have ended up being too worldly and materialistic. It's obvious that life in God's country will make men out of them, and only hard work will bring them survival in their challenging new home.
Tim Holt, Freddie Bartholomew and terry Kilburn are the three post adolescent children, with Baby Quillan as the cute newest addition to the family that brings ooh's and aah's for his cuteness. A giant sea turtle and ostrich are among the new creatures of God who help show the family the truth of their new paradise. And if course, there's the famous tree house, not quite as grand as Disney's, but no bird's nest, either. All in all, a fine version of a classic tale that I'd long wanted to see and was not disappointed in the least. My only issue is the obvious passage of time that does not seem to age the youngest child as the two older sons obviously arrive at adulthood.
This version of the Johann David Wyss novel is in glorious black and white, and is all the better for it. While the Disney version is worthy of its classic status, this version has been wrongfully overlooked, with a lesson pre-war of survival and growing up, and what living on this earth is all about. Mitchell and his wife (Edna Best) have strived to raise their children with dignity and ideals, but they have ended up being too worldly and materialistic. It's obvious that life in God's country will make men out of them, and only hard work will bring them survival in their challenging new home.
Tim Holt, Freddie Bartholomew and terry Kilburn are the three post adolescent children, with Baby Quillan as the cute newest addition to the family that brings ooh's and aah's for his cuteness. A giant sea turtle and ostrich are among the new creatures of God who help show the family the truth of their new paradise. And if course, there's the famous tree house, not quite as grand as Disney's, but no bird's nest, either. All in all, a fine version of a classic tale that I'd long wanted to see and was not disappointed in the least. My only issue is the obvious passage of time that does not seem to age the youngest child as the two older sons obviously arrive at adulthood.