Once Upon a Time
About Once Upon a Time
The Princess of Illyria has turned away every suitor. A tinker outside the castle catches her eye. He is the Prince of Denmark, with his friend Kasper Røghat. He trades a noisemaker and a copper kettle for kisses and a night in her room. Kasper tells the king. Her father throws her out. She goes to Denmark with the prince and lives as a poor potter until the pride is gone. They marry. She refuses a chance to marry the prince because she does not know the tinker is the same man. Clara Pontoppidan plays the princess. Svend Methling plays the prince.
Cast & crew
More about Once Upon a Time
Carl Theodor Dreyer directed and cut it. He and Palle Rosenkrantz wrote it from Holger Drachmann's play, first published in 1885 and staged in 1887, which uses Hans Christian Andersen's "The Swineherd" (1841). George Schnéevoigt photographed. Jens G. Lind designed the sets. Sophus Madsen produced. Fotorama distributed it in Denmark. Premiere October 3, 1922, at the Palads in Copenhagen. The Danish Film Institute lists 75 minutes, from 2,655 meters. Peter Jerndorff plays the king. Hakon Ahnfelt-Rønne plays Kasper. It is not a Nordisk picture. A copy is on the Internet Archive as silent-der-var-engang.
Themes
Reviews
Pontoppidan wrote that the reviews were not particularly good and that the public liked the film.
Look
George Schnéevoigt shot the castle and the potter's hut, including the close views Dreyer wanted of Pontoppidan.
Preservation
A print survives.
Notes
- The Danish title is Der var engang.
- Pontoppidan wrote that the reviews were poor and the public liked it.
- Viggo Larsen had filmed Drachmann's play for Nordisk in 1907. This is the later version.
- Torben Meyer plays the master of ceremonies.
Scenes
- He trades the kettle and the noisemaker for a night in her room.
- Turned out of the castle, she keeps house as a potter and still will not take the prince.
Influenced by
- Holger Drachmann's play Der var engang (1885)
- Hans Christian Andersen's "The Swineherd" (1841)
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-der-var-engang)
