''The Wonder Kid'' is a 1952 British

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- ...

directed by

Karl Hartl Karl Hartl (10 May 1899 – 29 August 1978) was an Austrian film director. Life Born in Vienna, Hartl began his film career at the Austrian Sascha-Film company of Alexander Kolowrat and from 1919 was assistant to the Hungarian director Alexand ...

and starring

Bobby Henrey Robert Henrey (born 26 June 1939) is an Anglo-French former child actor best known for his role as the son of the French ambassador to London in the classic 1948 English film '' The Fallen Idol'', directed by Carol Reed. Personal Henrey was the ...

Elwyn Brook-Jones Elwyn Brook-Jones (11 December 1911 – 4 September 1962) was a British theatre, film and television actor. Life Brook-Jones was born in Kuching, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. After a private education, he attended Jesus College, Oxford. Hi ...

and

Oskar Werner Oskar Werner (; born Oskar Josef Bschließmayer; 13 November 1922 23 October 1984) was an Austrian stage and cinema actor whose prominent roles include two 1965 films, '' The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' and ''Ship of Fools''. Other notable ...

. The film was completed in 1950, premiered in Europe in January 1951 but was not given a full release in Britain for a further year.

Plot

Sebastian Giro is a ten-year-old French boy and child musical prodigy found in an orphanage by Mr Gorik (Elwyn Brook-Jones) who exploits the youngster’s talent as a classical pianist and turns him into an international celebrity. He even tells everyone that the boy is only seven years old to make the boy wonder’s talent seem all the more remarkable. But Gorik is also a crook who embezzles the takings so that he has almost all the money and Sebastian gets hardly any. Coupled with that, Gorik won’t allow Sebastian to enjoy the simple pleasures of being a little boy, like playing with other boys or even reading comic books, because, when Sebastian isn’t performing, Gorik isn’t making any money out of him. He works the over tired boy like a slave who must continually practice on the piano. Sebastian’s elderly English governess, Miss Frisbie (Muriel Aked) is very concerned about the boy and confronts Gorik about his crooked activities. But he dismisses her from her post. Miss Frisbie then pays a gang of crooks to "kidnap" Sebastian and take him to stay in a remote lodge in the Austrian Tyrol, where the boy has never been so free and happy and Gorik won’t get him back until he’s paid over a huge ransom which is, in effect, all the money he has stolen from the boy.''The Wonder Kid''
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Production

''The Wonder Kid'' was filmed on location in Austria and at

Isleworth Studios Isleworth Studios is the common name of two former film studios in Great Britain. __TOC__ Worton Hall Studios 1913–1952 Worton Hall Studios were based on Worton Hall, in Isleworth. This house was built in 1783 and rebuilt and extended in the ea ...

in England in late 1949 and early 1950, but not released until 1952. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Joseph Bato Joseph Bato (1888–1966) was a Hungarian artist. He fled Germany following the Nazi takeover due to his Jewish heritage and settled in London where he was employed as an art director and costume designer in the British film industry. He worked f ...

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 ...

Cast

as Sebastian Giro *

as Mr. Gorik *

Muriel Aked Muriel Aked (9 November 1883 – 21 March 1955) was an English film actress. Early life, family and education Aked was born in Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England to George Henry Aked and his wife Emma (née Bairstow). She was a student ...

as Miss Frisbie *

as Rudi * Robert Shackleton as Rocks Cooley * Christa Winter as Anni * Sebastian Cabot as Pizzo * Klaus Birsch as Nik * Paul Hardtmuth as Professor Bindl *

June Elvin June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

as Miss Kirsch

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wonder Kid 1952 films Austrian comedy films English-language Austrian films Films directed by Karl Hartl Films about orphans Films about pianos and pianists Films about child abduction Films shot in Austria Films set in Austria British black-and-white films Films shot at Isleworth Studios British comedy films 1952 comedy films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films