SHIRLEY TEMPLE'S STORYBOOK: THE WILD SWANS (TV)
Summary
One in this children's anthology series of musical fairy tales hosted and narrated by, and occasionally featuring, Shirley Temple. In this program, Temple introduces the tale of "The Wild Swans," based on the 1838 tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The story begins as young princess Elisa and her three brothers John, Waldo and Albert sit through a lesson with their tutor, nicknamed Binky, while elsewhere their evil stepmother Queen Flavia meets with the witch of Fire Mountain, plotting to get rid of the children. The witch gives her a potion to turn the children into swans, telling her to pour it into the lagoon while they swim. The concoction works on the three boys and they are transformed into birds, though Elisa escapes the spell. Flavia then sends Elisa away to a cottage in the woods, claiming that her father has ordered her to be hidden safely until the boys are found. Seven years pass, however, and Elisa grows to love her kindly surrogate mother, Goody, though she misses her brothers and father. When she is eighteen, Binky comes to retrieve her, but explains that he has done so in secret, as Flavia has convinced the king that all four children are dead and has ordered Elisa killed. He explains that he knows a sorcerer who can help them, and the two hurry off into the woods just as the queen's soldiers arrive and are waylaid by Goody.
Binky and Elisa arrive at the sorcerer's cave, and he looks into his cauldron and reveals that her brothers have been turned into birds. He sends them to a riverbank via magic spell, and Elisa immediately recognizes the three swans as her siblings. They assume a half-bird, half-man phase and recognize her as well, and they joyfully reunite as the boys explain that from sundown to sunrise they are trapped in an in-between state, though by day they are fully swans. They stay up all night talking, and the sorcerer then explains that she can break the powerful spell upon them if she knits a cloak made out of stinging nettles for each of them, though she must do so entirely alone and not speak until they are completed. She quickly agrees to the painful task and begins to work, but is then discovered in the woods by King Julio, who is out hunting. She stops him from shooting at the swans in the air, though she cannot speak and explain herself, and Julio invites Elisa and Binky back to his palace for food and rest. Julio soon begins to fall for Elisa, though his first minister expresses suspicion of her odd behavior and suggests that she is a witch. Julio, though bewildered, allows Elisa to return to the woods to work on the cloaks, and Binky tells her that the minister is scheming to make his daughter the king's bride and is therefore spreading rumors about Elisa being a witch. Despite the danger, Elisa vows to keep her promise and return to the castle.
Elisa soon runs out of nettles and, knowing that they grow on gravestones, heads to the cemetery at midnight with Binky to collect more. The minister points to this seemingly witchy behavior and demands an explanation, but Binky cannot elaborate without invalidating the cloaks' magic and Elisa refuses to speak to defend herself despite Julio's pleas. Elisa is found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to death by fire, and Binky hurries into the woods to tell her brothers what has happened. They quickly hurry to the castle in their half-state, and as Elisa is led to the stake, they swoop down upon the soldiers, who are terrified of the "devil birds." In all the confusion, Elisa hurriedly finishes the cloaks and throws them over her brothers, who are finally returned to their human forms. Overjoyed, she breaks her silence and explains everything to Julio, who declares his love for her and asks her to be his queen. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 12, 1958 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:53:30
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:19308
- GENRE: Children's programs
- SUBJECT HEADING: Children's programs; Fairy tales; Musical
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1958-1961
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alvin Cooperman … Producer
- Norman Lessing … Associate Producer
- Shelley Hull … Associate Producer
- Richard Morris … Director
- Jean Holloway … Writer
- Hans Christian Andersen … Based on the story by
- Leigh Harline … Music by
- Morris Stoloff … Conductor
- Shirley Temple … Host
- Phyllis Love … Cast, Elisa
- Melville Cooper … Cast, Binky
- Grant Williams … Cast, King Julio
- Joseph Wiseman … Cast, Sorcerer
- Alfred Ryder … Cast, First Minister
- Olive Deering … Cast, Queen Flavia
- Buzz Martin … Cast, Albert
- Robert Chapman … Cast, Waldo
- Bob Banas … Cast, John
- Anne O'Neal … Cast, Witch
- Lisa Golm … Cast, Goody