The Wonder Kid

Last updated

The Wonder Kid
The Wonder Kid.jpg
Directed by Karl Hartl
Written by Gene Markey
Karl Hartl
Produced byKarl Hartl
Starring Bobby Henrey
Elwyn Brook-Jones
Muriel Aked
Oskar Werner
Cinematography Günther Anders
Robert Krasker
Edited by Reginald Beck
Music by Willy Schmidt-Gentner
Production
company
Distributed by British Lion Films
Release date
  • 26 May 1952 (1952-05-26)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office£79,912 (UK) [1]

The Wonder Kid is a 1952 British drama film directed by Karl Hartl and starring Bobby Henrey, Elwyn Brook-Jones and Oskar Werner. 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.

Contents

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. [2]

Production

The Wonder Kid was filmed on location in Austria and at Isleworth Studios in England in late 1949 and early 1950, but not released until 1952. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Joseph Bato and Werner Schlichting.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>The Pure Hell of St Trinians</i> 1960 British comedy film

The Pure Hell of St Trinian's is a 1960 British comedy film set in the fictional St Trinian's School. Directed by Frank Launder and written by him and Sidney Gilliat, it was the third in a series of four films.

Russell Waters Scottish actor

Russell Waters was a Scottish film actor.

<i>The Pilgrim</i> (1923 film) 1923 film by Charlie Chaplin

The Pilgrim is a 1923 American silent film made by Charlie Chaplin for the First National Film Company, starring Chaplin and Edna Purviance.

<i>Hollywood Shuffle</i> 1987 film by Robert Townsend

Hollywood Shuffle is a 1987 American satirical comedy film about the racial stereotypes of African Americans in film and television. The film tracks the attempts of Bobby Taylor to become a successful actor and the mental and external roadblocks he encounters, represented through a series of interspersed vignettes and fantasies. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Townsend, the film is semi-autobiographical, reflecting Townsend's experiences as a black actor when he was told he was not "black enough" for certain roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Jones (actor)</span> American actor

Richard Percy Jones, known as Dick Jones or Dickie Jones, was an American actor and singer who achieved success as a child performer and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns. In 1938, he played Artimer "Artie" Peters, nephew of Buck Peters, in the Hopalong Cassidy film The Frontiersman. He may be best known as the voice of Pinocchio in Walt Disney's film of the same name.

Creighton Hale American actor (1882–1965)

Creighton Hale was an Irish-American theatre, film, and television actor whose career extended more than a half-century, from the early 1900s to the end of the 1950s.

<i>The Demi-Paradise</i> 1943 British film

The Demi-Paradise is a 1943 British comedy film made by Two Cities Films. It stars Laurence Olivier as a Soviet Russian inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, and Penelope Dudley-Ward as the woman who falls in love with him. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and produced by Anatole de Grunwald and Filippo Del Giudice from a screenplay by de Grunwald. The music score was by Nicholas Brodszky and the cinematography by Bernard Knowles. The film was shot at Denham Studios with sets designed by the art director Carmen Dillon.

<i>Summer Holiday</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Rouben Mamoulian

Summer Holiday is a 1948 American musical-comedy film, directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Mickey Rooney and Gloria DeHaven. The picture is based on the play Ah, Wilderness! (1933) by Eugene O'Neill, which had been filmed under that name by MGM in 1935 with Rooney in a much smaller role, as the younger brother. Though completed in October 1946, this film sat on the shelf until 1948.

<i>Just Pals</i> 1920 film

Just Pals is a 1920 American silent Western film directed by John Ford, and was Ford's first film for Fox Film Corporation. John Ford is credited as 'Jack Ford', as was typical for his earliest films.

<i>Crooks Anonymous</i> 1962 film

Crooks Anonymous is a British comedy film from 1962. Directed by Ken Annakin, it stars Leslie Phillips and Stanley Baxter and is notably the feature film debut of Julie Christie.

<i>William Comes to Town</i> 1948 film by Val Guest

William Comes to Town is a 1948 British comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring William Graham and Garry Marsh. It was based on the Just William series of novels by Richmal Crompton. It served as a loose sequel to 1947 film Just William's Luck. It is also known by its U.S. alternative title William Goes to the Circus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elwyn Brook-Jones</span> British actor

Elwyn Brook-Jones was a British theatre, film and television actor.

<i>Mr. Wise Guy</i> 1942 film by William Nigh

Mr. Wise Guy is a 1942 American film starring The East Side Kids and directed by William Nigh.

Bobby Henrey Anglo-French child actor

Robert Henrey 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.

<i>Mr. Hex</i> 1946 film by William Beaudine

Mr. Hex is a 1946 film directed by William Beaudine and starring the comedy team of The Bowery Boys. It is the fifth film in the series.

<i>Its Hard to Be Good</i> 1948 British film

It's Hard to Be Good is a 1948 British comedy film directed by Jeffrey Dell and starring Jimmy Hanley, Anne Crawford and Raymond Huntley. In the film, an ex-army officer finds his altruistic attempts to improve the world are unsuccessful.

<i>They Knew Mr. Knight</i> (film) 1946 British film

They Knew Mr. Knight is a 1946 British drama film directed by Norman Walker and starring Mervyn Johns, Nora Swinburne and Joyce Howard. It was based on a 1934 novel of the same title by Dorothy Whipple. A man is sentenced to twelve months in Lincoln jail following his involvement in a share scam, plunging himself and his family into despair. However, by the time of his release he is able to face his uncertain future with fortitude.

<i>The Little Rascals Save the Day</i> 2014 American film

The Little Rascals Save the Day is a 2014 American direct-to-video comedy film released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The film is the second motion picture film succeeding the major 1994 film, and it is an adaptation of Hal Roach's Our Gang, a series of short films of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s which centered on the adventures of a group of neighborhood children.

<i>Four Around a Woman</i> 1921 film

Four Around the Woman is a 1921 German silent drama film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Hermann Böttcher, Carola Toelle and Lilli Lohrer. It is also known by the alternative title of Kämpfende Herzen.

References

  1. Vincent Porter, 'The Robert Clark Account', Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol 20 No 4, 2000 p498
  2. The Wonder Kid at BFI