Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge

It is fair to see it in the context of the period and not ignoring the purpose. It is just a simple, silly in many scenes, adaptation of the classic fairy tall. Nothing awfull , only not always inspired. But the spirit of the storytelling is far to be wrong, the performances are reasonable, the Bavarian air is a virtue and the children in the roles of dwarfs- few drops of imagination solve many details. A decent film. And nothing less. Or more.

The story is simple. You know the characters. While it sticks to Grimm's tale for the majority of its plot, the ending is a bit Disney-fied with the death of the Evil Queen. I mean, they scared the bejesus out of us for an entire hour with the little German dwarfs, why not go all the way and give us the real horror of the Queen's death, putting iron shoes on her and making her dance until she dropped dead? For 1955, it's pretty well filmed, with very nice shots of the natural surroundings.

The US dubbed-version is a thousand times scarier, with its music and menacing voice actors. Even the narrator sounds evil. The German version is very childlike with a sort of playfulness that's seen throughout many of the film's pivotal moments.

I recommend watching both versions to get a good kick out of what the US did to a relatively harmless children's film, (even though the Queen tries to kill her stepdaughter multiple times, of course.) The US-dubbed dialog is taken directly from the German film's script. It has simply been translated.

...for its time and place. Germany and Czechoslovakia produced dozens of these low budget fairytales in the post-war years. They are still ubiquitous on Sundays in Central Europe when most businesses are closed. These films are kitschy and amateurish, but charming in their own way, especially in the original language.

I initially found them ridiculous and refused to watch with my Austrian wife, but they've grown on me over the years and now I much enjoy them. This version of Snow White is among the best of these films. It's unusual in that the German script is entirely in rhyme which works surprisingly well in the original German but lends itself poorly to translation for foreign audiences. Overdubbing only complicates viewing.

Elke Arendt is a fabulous actress and her talent and skill shine through in this performance. She is a pleasure to watch.

Taken on its own terms, without modern expectations about what movies should be, this version of Snow White can provide nice entertainment on a lazy afternoon.

This German made, live action version of the classic story was made in 1955, and released in the U.S in 1965. The releasing company, Childhood Productions, added a new soundtrack to the film, not only dubbing it into English, but commissioning a brand new score, written by Anne and Milton Delugg. The results are wonderful. Care was taken in matching the dubbed voices to the actors (even if the synchronization is a little off). The songs, and especially the background music, are beautiful. Add the lovely Bavarian scenery, and you have a delightful film. Incidentally, the original narrator, Paul Tripp, was replaced on the version issued by Interglobal Home Video. They filmed a new introduction with actor Chuck McCann, who also took over the storytelling chores. Presumably, this was done for copyright reasons. The Paul Tripp narration is far superior. Childhood Productions imported several German made fairy tale films to the U.S. in the sixties. They did well by all of them, but this is, in my opinion, the best. Having now seen (at last) the original German Language edit, I can say again, they did a remarkable job. The original musical score is bad- no memorable orchestrations, no lovely background themes, no nothing. The cast,(undubbed) have very poor speaking voices. Childhood Productions took a routine film version of a classic story, and made it a memorable one.My favorite ''Snow White'' movie!.

Nice German version of the classic tale Snow White and the seven dwarfs. Released in German and later in English, with dubbed score and songs. The movie is pretty much like the original Disney fairytale although both characters and music lack of Disney's energy and grace. Prince charming is too bland and Snow white too simple but the film enriches with beautiful sets and scenery. And the queen is bad, but not repulsive. They could have taken more profit of the mirror and the first meeting between Snow white and the prince is rather decaffeinated. Songs are not enhancing as Disney's version are, but dwarfs's house and setting are nicely done. Although I missed some things like precious stones shown at dwarfs' mine and the final kiss (snowwhite awakes in a more prosaic way), the fact that no heart is given to the queen by hunter and there is no witch avoids the ugliest parts of the story. Part of a series of German filmed Fairytales made in the fifties and early sixties that also include The Sleeping Beauty and Snow white and Rose red.