''Almost Angels'' (also known in some foreign markets as ''Born to Sing'') is a 1962 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

about a group of boys in the

Vienna Boys' Choir The Vienna Boys' Choir (german: Wiener Sängerknaben) is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other count ...

. The film centers around the chorister's recruitment process, the rehearsals and the life in the institution as well. The story also conveys the value of friendship, honesty and loyalty. The child actors were actual members of the Vienna Boys Choir who perform several traditional Austrian songs throughout the motion picture. The filming took place in the Augarten Palais, the surroundings of Vienna and some other places of the beautiful Austrian landscape. In the United States, the film was released as the second half of a double bill. The first feature on the double bill was the 1962 re-release of ''

Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American animated musical romance film produced by Walt Disney and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 15th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and ...

''.

Plot

Tony Fiala (played by Vincent Winter) is a working-class boy whose greatest desire is to become a member of Vienna's most famous choir. His father, however, wants his son to follow in his own footsteps as an engine driver. Unlike his loving and supportive mother, he sees no future for the boy in music. Despite the objections, Tony manages to join the Vienna Boys' Choir. Once there, he meets Peter (played by

Sean Scully Sean Scully (born 30 June 1945) is an Irish-born American-based artist working as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and photographer. His work is held in museum collections worldwide and he has twice been named a Turner Prize nominee. Moving fro ...

), who is the leading chorister and the most experienced solo voice. When Peter finds out that Tony has a wonderful, clear treble voice, he feels threatened by the talented new boy. Peter's jealousy will prompt him to do everything in his power to ruin his rival's public performances and his good image as a boarder, to the point of endangering Tony's life. The sabotage will eventually end but the breaking of Peter's voice will change the events drastically.

Cast

* Vincent Winter as Tony Fiala *

as Peter Schaefer *

Peter Weck Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as Max Heller *

Hans Holt Hans Holt (22 November 1909 – 3 August 2001) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1935 and 1990. Selected filmography * '' Hannerl and Her Lovers'' (1936) * ''Catherine the Last'' (1936) * '' Florentine' ...

as Director Eisinger * Bruni Löbel as Frau Fiala *

Fritz Eckhardt Fritz Eckhardt (born Linz, 30 November 1907; died Klosterneuburg, 31 December 1995) was an Austrian actor, director, and writer. He is remembered for playing the lead role as ''chief inspector Marek'' in the Österreichischer Rundfunk version o ...

as Herr Fiala * Denis Gilmore as Friedel Schmidt * Hennie Scott as Ferdie *

Gunther Philipp Gunther Philipp (8 June 1918 – 2 October 2003) was an Austrian film actor, physician and swimmer. From 1949 to 2002 he appeared as an actor in 147 movies for cinema and television, mainly in comic roles. As an author, Philipp wrote 21 film scr ...

as Radio Announcer * Hans Christian as Choirmaster * Hermann Furthmosek as Choirmaster * Walter Regelsberger as Choirmaster

Songs and music

The film takes advantage of the story itself to present traditional Austrian and German songs performed by the children. Besides the Lieder, there are some international scores and instrumental music: # " Kaiser-Walzer" (Emperor Waltz by

Johann Strauss Jr. Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ov ...

) # "Willkommen" # "Heidenröslein" (Little Rose of the Heath) by Heinrich Werner /

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

# Unidentified piece for piano and oboe by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

# "Der Kuckuck" # "Wohlan, die Zeit ist kommen" from Ludwig Schubart # "Der Lindenbaum" (Am Brunnen vor dem Tore) by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

/ Wilhelm Müller # "Kindersinfonie" ( Toy Symphony by Leopold Mozart) # "Tra la la, der Post ist da" (The Postman) by Rudolf Löwenstein # "Omnes de Saba Venient" (Graduale by

Joseph Eybler Joseph Leopold Eybler (8 February 1765 – 24 July 1846) was an Austrian composer and contemporary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Life Eybler was born into a musical family in Schwechat near Vienna.Badura-Skoda and Herrmann-Schneider (n.d.) His fat ...

) # "Lustig ist das Zigeunerleben" # "Das Hennlein Weiss" # "Guten Abend, Gute Nacht" (Good Evening, Good Night) by Johannes Brahms # "

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English Fo ...

" (Traditional English Song) # "''

Ländler The Ländler () is a folk dance in time which was popular in Austria, Bavaria, German Switzerland, and Slovenia at the end of the 18th century. It is a partner dance which strongly features hopping and stamping. It might be purely instrument ...

''" # "An Der Schönen Blauen Donau" ( Blue Danube Waltz by

)

Home media

The film was released on DVD as part of the Disney Movie Club. In addition, the title was also made available for streaming in the

digital format Digital data, in information theory and information systems, is information represented as a string of discrete symbols each of which can take on one of only a finite number of values from some alphabet, such as letters or digits. An example is ...

.Amazon: Almost Angels 1962
Retrieved 07-19-17

Popular culture

Produced and released more than two years before ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, ''The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. S ...

'' and six years after '' Sissi - The Young Empress'', ''Almost Angels'' uses the same formula of combining a family story, beautiful scenery, beloved music and Austrian local customs and traditions. Although it had limited distribution in theatres, the movie aroused the interest in choral institutions and in the Vienna Boys' Choir itself. ''Almost Angels'' was telecast broken up into two parts on the

Disney anthology television series The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, ''The Wonderful World of Disney'', was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 to the present. The pr ...

References

External links

* * * {{tcmdb title, id=67127, title=Almost Angels
Almost Angels film fan review website
1962 films American comedy films 1960s English-language films 1962 comedy films Films about classical music and musicians Walt Disney Pictures films Films produced by Walt Disney Films set in Vienna Films set in schools 1960s American films