The Pied Piper of Hamelin: The Television Special

THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Claude Rains.

The tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin has found itself part of the vocabulary. In 1957, a musical adaptation of the fairy tale was mounted for television. The Pied Piper of Hamelin has a charm to it, with some clever uses of Edvard Grieg's music that works, though it is dated. 

The hamlet of Hamelin is working fast and furious to build a clocktower with golden bells to win a banner from the king. The children do not play or go to school. The women do not tend to the home. The men are taken out of the fields and shops. The town council, headed by the Mayor (Claude Rains), are determined to get the tower built by the time the King's emissary (Jim Backus) arrives. One person opposed to this plan is Truson (Van Johnson), who insists that the town is wasting time and resources on trivial matters. The Mayor tolerates him only because his daughter Mara (Lori Nelson) loves Truson, a feeling that is reciprocated.

A bit of good luck comes down Hamelin's way when their rival town Hamelout is flooded. The Hamelin city fathers do not send help. They do, however, receive Hamelout's rats. Into this comes the Pied Piper (Van Johnson in a dual role). He will clear the town of the rats in exchange for the entire City budget. The Mayor eventually agrees, but no one on council has any intentions of paying the Piper. The rats gone, the Piper comes and is appalled that he has been stiffed. With that, the Pied Piper plays the tune that only children can hear. 

The Mayor, looking for a scapegoat, finds one in Truson, the only man who insists that the Council was wrong and can hear the same music the children hear. The townsfolk are torn between believing the Mayor and desperate to get the children back. Will Truson be hanged? Will Hamelin get the King's banner? Are the children lost forever?

I think many will be surprised to see Claude Rains, embodiment of sophistication and elegance, doing a little song-and-dance. His big musical number is Prestige, a song filled with irony on political machinations. He manages a surprisingly adept soft shoe when on a table. Rains also has a nice, comical manner to his arrogant Mayor. He knows that the character is meant to be blustery and self-assured. "For your lack of faith, you will soon atone. I was not made Mayor for my beauty alone", he tells Mara.

Rains is also able to not just sing the song but recite the dialogue to sound natural and authentic. The Pied Piper of Hamelin is spoken in verse, lending to the theatrical and more whimsical manner of the special.  Rains sounds as if this method is the way it is meant to be spoken. Van Johnson cannot. Johnson forces the rhymes to be noticeable. As such, when he is playing Trusom, he sounds comical but not in a good way.

Johnson is better when playing the Pied Piper, where we can expect a more exaggerated manner. The Pied Piper of Hamelin opens with Johnson as the Pied Piper, doing an elaborate dance. With his whiskers and manner, Johnson actually looks frightening more than jolly. This is the exception when Johnson is playing the Piper. The other times when he is playing the Pied Piper, Johnson is actually quite delightful. His hammy manner works better when he is the flamboyant Pied Piper than the straightlaced Trusom.

A highlight is when Johnson sings Flim Flam Flu, which like all the songs used Edvard Grieg's music with lyric added by Irving Taylor. Flim Flam Flu is a delightful number where the Pied Piper sings to enraptured kids about magic. The song is clearly tailored to and for children, making this part quite pleasant. The peasants get their own number when Kay Starr sings A Mother's Lament through the empty streets of Hamelin. It is a surprisingly moving moment. 

In terms of acting, Starr also has a standout moment when she talks to an empty Council chamber about the lost children, asking if they have seen her Johnny. Even in verse, one cannot help but be moved by this parent's grief. 

As stated, The Pied Piper of Hamelin uses Edvard Grieg's music for the numbers. One of his most famous works, In the Hall of the Mountain King, is used often. It can sound charming or menacing depending on the scene. Most people would say that the original version sounds menacing. I believe that when the Pied Piper is spiriting out the rats, it sounds like the way people have heard it before. When it is used for the children, it sounds sweeter, suggesting the same method but more palatable for youngsters about to be taken away. 

Jim Backus does not show up until late in the special as the Emissary, fully aware of the various tricks local leaderships use to get him on their sides. He is fine as the slightly dithering, slightly foolish Emissary, attempting to aid the townsfolk to get the kids but leaving when he can't figure things out.  

The Pied Piper of Hamelin, nowadays, shows its age. The staging and costuming, while good, do look dated. The themes of honesty, of not wasting resources on trinkets and how leadership should be responsive to the public still hold true. I think there should be a remake to allow a new generation to see how good the material can be under the right hands.

As it stands, The Pied Piper of Hamelin works as a delightful family production. While again, it does look a bit creaky, the film has some good qualities. The songs are delightful. Claude Rains is equally delightful in an uncharacteristic role.  I think that there should be a remake. The material for a new adaptation is there. Hopefully there will be another version that will delight new audiences the way this version delighted its audiences.

8/10