Movie
The Pied Piper
Synopsis
The Pied Piper eschews the romanticism of Robert Browning's poem and returns to the grim Grimm Brothers source. Pop singer Donovan plays the 14th century piper hired by a duplicitous burgomaster (Donald Pleasence) to rid the town of Hamelin of its rats. The piper does what he's asked, but is denied the payment promised him; in revenge, he leads all of Hamelin's children out of town, never to be seen again. Though the story is a familiar one, this 1972 Pied Piper is not a kiddie movie. Director Jacques Demy's depiction of the 14th century as a muddy, backward, superstitious, disease-ridden, vermin-infested era transforms this fable into a squalid tale of revenge (incidentally, all those repulsive rodents are real). Donovan is matched by a remarkably restrained Jack Wild as the crippled boy, and John Hurt also co-stars.
Cast
- Donovan Leitch
- Donald Pleasence
- Jack Wild
- John Hurt
- Michael Hordern
- Roy Kinnear
- Peter Vaughan
- Diana Dors
- Cathryn Harrison
- Keith Buckley
- Patsy Puttnam
- Peter Eyre
- Hamilton Dyce
- Arthur Hewlett
- Andre Van Gyseghem
- John Falconer
- Clive Elliott
- David Netheim
- Paul Hennen
- David Leland
- Sammie Winmill
- John Welsh
- Gertan Klauber
- Mary McLeod
- Michael Goldie
- Edwin Brown
- George Cormack
- Roger Hammond
- Andrew Birkin
- Vangie Harrison
- Jacques Demy
- Bob Lawrence
- George Djurkovic
- Assheton Gorton
- Mark Peploe
- Kenneth Clayton
- John Stears
- John Trumper
- Peter Suschitzky
