Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
directed by
Luigi Comencini
Luigi Comencini (; 8 June 1916 – 6 April 2007) ''The Guardian'' was an Italian
and starring Elsbeth Sigmund,
Heinrich Gretler
Heinrich Gretler (1897–1977) was a Swiss film and television actor, who also starred on stage at the Bernhard-Theater in Zurich.
Selected filmography
* '' The Mysterious Mirror'' (1928)
* ''Struggle for the Matterhorn'' (1928)
* ''The Man w ...
and Thomas Klameth. It is based on the 1880 novel ''
Heidi
''Heidi'' (; ) is a work of children's fiction published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri, originally published in two parts as ''Heidi: Her Years of Wandering and Learning'' (german: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre) and ''Heidi: How She Used ...
'' by
Johanna Spyri
Johanna Louise Spyri (; ; 12 June 1827 – 7 July 1901) was a Swiss author of novels, notably children's stories, and is best known for her book ''Heidi''. Born in Hirzel, a rural area in the canton of Canton of Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland, ...
. It was followed by a 1955 sequel ''
Heidi and Peter
''Heidi and Peter'' (German: ''Heidi und Peter'') is a 1955 Swiss family drama film directed by Franz Schnyder and starring Heinrich Gretler, Elsbeth Sigmund and Thomas Klameth. It was a sequel to the 1952 film ''Heidi'', which was itself an adapt ...
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
Werner Schlichting
Werner Schlichting (1904–1996) was a German art director who worked on over a hundred films during a lengthy career. He worked on a number of Austrian films including '' The Congress Dances'' and '' The Last Ten Days'' (1955).Fritsche p.253
Sel ...
.
Plot
Heidi lives with her grandfather, Alp-Öhi, in a cottage in the Swiss Alps and enjoys spending time in the mountains with her friend, the goatherd Peter.
The village parson visits the Alp-Öhi. He asks him to come to the village along with Heidi, to attend the installation of the new church bells. Around the installation of the bells, the village festival is held and traditionally it is the children who help hoist up the bells, and Heidi should not be absent. In addition, she could make friends with him and with the children of the village, because soon she should start going to school in the village anyway. The Alp-Öhi is not very happy because he is at odds with the villagers. They accuse him of being responsible for a fire which damaged five houses and the church tower. But the fact is that the Alp-Öhi did not cause the fire and even lost his only son – Heidi's father – fighting the fire. Shortly thereafter, Heidi's mother died from grief over the loss. Aunt Dete, the sister of Heidi's mother, initially cared for the child, but left her with the Alp-Öhi when she got a job in Frankfurt in Germany.
Dete is employed at the Sesemann house as a cook. Mr. Sesemann, a wealthy businessman and a widower, is seeking a companion for his daughter Klara who uses a wheelchair after an illness. Dete suggests Heidi, travels to the village and tricks Heidi into accompanying her back to Frankfurt.
Heidi quickly makes friends with Klara and helps her in every way she can. However, Heidi's natural and spirited manner continually exasperates prissy Miss Rottenmeyer, Klara's governess. All the other staff grow very fond of Heidi, especially Sebastian the butler. All the while Heidi hopes to eventually be allowed to return home to her beloved mountains and grandfather. Eventually a minor miracle occurs: Klara, lovingly cared for by Heidi, begins to walk again. When Mr. Sesemann returns from a long trip, he is overjoyed when he sees his child making a few steps towards him. Out of gratitude for Heidi's accomplishing this miracle, he decrees that she shall stay indefinitely, but this secretly throws her into despair because of her homesickness.
Soon afterward the household is disturbed by what seem to be nightly appearances of a ghost. These are revealed by Mr. Sesemann and Doctor Classen, the family doctor and a good friend, to actually being Heidi sleep-walking around the house. Recognizing this as a symptom of deep emotional distress, sympathetic Dr. Classen advises Mr. Sesemann to let Heidi return home immediately, back to her grandfather and the mountains. And so it happens, and it is furthermore decided that Klara shall visit Heidi soon during the holidays.
Heidi's return finally resolves the conflict between Alp-Öhi and the villagers, and on Sunday Heidi and her grandfather join the villagers for church service.
Cast
* Elsbeth Sigmund as Heidi
*
Heinrich Gretler
Heinrich Gretler (1897–1977) was a Swiss film and television actor, who also starred on stage at the Bernhard-Theater in Zurich.
Selected filmography
* '' The Mysterious Mirror'' (1928)
* ''Struggle for the Matterhorn'' (1928)
* ''The Man w ...
as Alp-Öhi
* Thomas Klameth as Geissenpeter
* Elsie Attenhofer as Tante Dete
*
Margrit Rainer
Margrit Rainer born as Margrit Rosa Sandmeier (9 February 1914 – 10 February 1982) was a Swiss comedian, radio personality, and stage and film actress starring usually in Swiss German language cinema and television and stage productions.
Early ...
as Peters Mutter
* Fred Tanner as Pfarrer
*
Isa Günther
Isa or ISA may refer to:
Places
* Isa, Amur Oblast, Russia
* Isa, Kagoshima, Japan
* Isa, Nigeria
* Isa District, Kagoshima, former district in Japan
* Isa Town, middle class town located in Bahrain
* Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia
* Mount ...
as Klara Sesemann
*
Willy Birgel
Willy Birgel (19 September 1891 – 29 December 1973), born Wilhelm Maria Birgel, was a German theatre and film actor.
Career
Birgel began his acting career before World War I on the stage in his native city of Cologne, and came to movies ra ...
as Herr Sesemann
*
Traute Carlsen
Traute Carlsen (1882–1968) was a German stage and film actress. Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the Jewish Carlsen left Germany for Switzerland where she settled permanently.
She was married to the Austrian actor Karl Forest.
Biog ...
as Klaras Grossmutter
* Anita Mey as Frl. Rottenmeyer
*
Theo Lingen
Theo Lingen (; 10 June 1903 – 10 November 1978), born Franz Theodor Schmitz, was a German actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1929 and 1978, and directed 21 films between 1936 and 1960.
Life and c ...
as Butler Sebastian
*
Max Haufler
Max Haufler (4 June 1910 – 25 June 1965) was a Swiss actor and film director.
Partial filmography
* ''Le règne de l'esprit malin'' (1938) - Criblet
* ''Farinet ou l'or dans la montagne'' (1939) - Gendarm
* ''Steibruch'' (1942) - Näppi
* '' ...
as Bäcker
*
Armin Schweizer Armin Schweizer (28 April 1892 – 8 October 1968) was a Swiss actor.
Schweizer was born in Zurich, Switzerland and died there at age 76
Selected filmography
* ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (1918)
* '' The Galley Slave'' (1919)
* '' The Mayor of ...
as Dompförtner
Critical reception
It is still considered the best film version of the novel.
References
Bibliography
* Bergfelder, Tim & Bock, Hans-Michael. ''The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopedia of German. Berghahn Books, 2009.