Dr. Coppelius!!!
In 1966, the classic ballet "Coppélia" got a big-screen makeover. Familiar Austrian actor Walter Slezak ("Lifeboat") starred as title character Dr. Coppelius, a lovably diabolical inventor who delighted in terrifying the townspeople to keep them from learning his secret: the guests frequently seen in his home were actually life-sized wind-up toys that he'd built. But when a young man named Franz (Caj Selling) flirts with one of the good doctor's creations from afar, girlfriend Swanhilda (Claudia Corday) and her pals break into the doctor's foreboding mansion and discover the truth. Enamored by his clockwork friends, Swanhilda dresses up as one of the dolls and fools the doctor into thinking his creation has come to life.
Featuring lavish sets, costumes, camerawork and choreography, the movie is wonderfully off-kilter... but admittedly, as a whole it doesn't entirely gel. Slezak and Corday are thoroughly appealing (shame that the Corday didn't make more films -- the camera absolutely adored her). Unfortunately the Franz character has little to do but prance around seeming overtly gay (though that's almost always the problem with stock Prince Charming characters). A secondary love story for Dr. C. which was devised especially for the film feels a bit forced, but Eileen Elliott is delightful as his wannabe girlfriend. And perhaps it's because I'm not a ballet fan, but it seems like there's an inordinate amount of dancing -- there's several overlong sequences featuring the townspeople kicking up their heels which have virtually nothing to with the story and don't further the plot. Kinda like the "Portobello Road" sequence from the restored version of "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," though not quite as endless. Still, the movie is engaging -- clearly it was a labor of love for everyone involved -- and anyone who likes the production design in old time horror movies should get a kick out of Dr. C's mysterious house.
Interesting and heartbreaking backstory. What began as a experimental ballet/mime workshop in Florida eventually segued to the movie in 1966. Conceived, directed and choreographed by a husband/wife team, financed by a Floridan investor, featuring an international cast, filmed in Madrid and only released in Spain under the title "El fantástico mundo del doctor Coppelius" ("The Fantastic World of Dr. Coppelius"), the movie failed to do much business. In 1968, the film found a slightly wider worldwide release when distributor Childhood Productions latched onto the flick, edited it down and ushered it out under the title "Dr.?? Coppelius!!!" The movie got glowing reviews from the London and New York press, but following its New York premiere "Dr. Coppelius" was abruptly pulled from circulation when Cinecom, the parent company to Childhood Productions, went belly up. That secured its fate as a forgotten film. For the next 7 years, the movie was tied up in legal limbo.
Once the creators re-established their rights, the film got a drastic overhaul in an attempt to attract a broader kiddie matinee audience, and it was re-released in 1976 under the titles "Dr. Coppelius" (minus ridiculous question and exclamation marks) and "The Mysterious House of Dr. C." Problem was kiddie movies were not big box-office draws by this point (even Disney was struggling), and the movie already felt dated. In the earlier incarnations, all of the characters were silent, but in the '76 cut they were given overdubbed voices (and being dumbed-down for kids, the voices usually stated the obvious). Although the music itself remained unchanged, lyrics were added to several pieces of the score, which resulted in a few original songs. But the most off-the-wall change in the '76 cut were two animated sequences which replaced two live-action dream sequences (one of which was only seen in the original 1966 cut).
The animation was done in the USA (cheaply, I must add), and the '70s style of these segments is a stark contrast to the 1950s feel of the live-action portion of the movie. Doesn't help matters that the cartoons feature such out of place atrocities as Dr. C. fighting a talking bull (voiced by Terry Thomas), an opera singer who flies around on a cloud supported by cherubs causing worldwide destruction with the power of her voice(!), and a gaggle of little green aliens. Infinite weirdness.
In April 2011, "The Mysterious House of Dr. C." made its debut on America's Turner Classic Movies as part of their aptly-named "Lost and Found" showcase. The following August an uncut print of "Dr.?? Coppelius!!!," complete with both missing dream sequences, made its way to TCM. It's unclear if the film(s) will get an official home video release, but in the meantime there's always i-offer. In any event, it's a charmingly offbeat little movie that's worth seeking out or watching for on TCM.
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