Product Details

• Actors: Erin Mack, Tom Davenport, Scott Honeycutt
• Directors: Erin Mack
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1977
• Run Time: 16 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1888522100
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #57,822 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This early effort of Davenport Films is a 16-minute version of "Hansel and Gretel," set in the spooky, wily woods of the Appalachian Mountains during the Great Depression. With easily detected overdubbing and disengaging narration, this short lacks the sophistication used on later features (most notably Willa). Still, the casting of a mean stepmother, an eerie witch, and the rugged setting will make an impression on the 3- to 7-year-old set. --Doug Thomas

Product Description

This no-frills version of the classic Grimm Brothers' folktale is set in Southern Appalachia during the Great Depression. The actors are people who live in the hills where it was filmed and have a look of realism seldom found in professional actors. The natural setting establishes the mood, scenic and familiar by day and scary at night.

Winner of a CINE Golden Eagle American Film Festival Blue Ribbon

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hansel and Gretel: An Appalachian Version, February 17, 2004

By	Clob Lane (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

One of the most eerie versions of the classic Brothers Grimm tale is set in the Appalachian mountains during the time of Depression. A father and stepmother cannot afford to feed their children and therefore they lure them into the woods and make them lost. When they come upon a decorative log cabin, they are enchanted by a creepy witch who locks Hansel in a cage and sets Gretel to work as a servant for her...and the rest as they say is history.

This 16-minute short film is atmospherically shot, and the cast are very authentic mountain dwellers portraying this familiar characters. Like Joan Collins in the Faerie Tale Theatre episode of this tale, the stepmother and the witch are played by the same woman and rub off with maximum results. The use of imaginative realism is consistent and quite evocative. Filled with the dreams and fears of children (and adults), this is a detailed and enjoyable short that is very good for learning filmmakers such as myself.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childhood favorite., March 5, 2004

By	Adam (SC) - See all my reviews

This version of "Hansel and Gretel" is the best I've ever seen. I can remember watching this in the first grade long ago, and totally enjoying every minute of it. I'm going to try to purchase this video from this site, and I would love to own it. It's beautiful. For people who love the story, this should be a treasure!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a slick fairy tale film, April 7, 2001

By	Heidi Anne Heiner (SurLaLune Fairy Tales.com) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This is the first fairy tale film adaptation from Davenport Films. The well-known tale of Hansel and Gretel is set in rural Appalachia during the Great Depression--a natural setting for this tale of hunger and abandonment. While the film can feel disjointed at points, it is a valiant effort from a filmmaker who has brought several fairy tales faithfully and creatively to film.

Fairy tales aside, the video serves as a wonderful example of the changes in filmmaking and the evolution of Davenport Films, especially when compared with the much more polished, but never slick, recent films of "Willa" and "Ashpet." This film will be inspirational to budding film students on small budgets.