The Tinderbox
The Tinderbox was originally shown on BBC television during the 1960s and then again in the 1970s (going off help here from a Little Gem visitor - feel free to correct me if the data is wrong). It originated from Germany in 1959 and was titled Das Feuerzeug. I cannot remember if it was dubbed / subtitled when it was screened over in the UK or whether it was like "The Singing Ringing Tree" with a single voice-over. The Director was Siegfried Hartmann and the style of the fairytale is much in the format of Rumplestiltskin, Snow White and The Singing Ringing Tree. Siegfried Hartmann actually directed another two in this style - The Golden Goose (released in 1964) and Snow White and Rose Red (released in 1979). He also wrote the scenario for the 1988 film Rapunzel. The story was originally written by Hans Christian Andersen and basically tells the story of a battle weary soldier, who whilst down on his luck runs across an old witch who asks him to retrieve a small Tinderbox from inside an old tree. Coins of Copper, Silver and Gold, three magical huge hounds, a wicked witch, a beautiful Princess, a nasty King and Queen, village scoundrels and a good man in a soldier's uniform all blend together to bring to the television screens another of the charming European classics.
Characters
![]() The tale's hero - The Soldier |
![]() The Tinderbox |
![]() Hans (soldier's friend) |
![]() Blackie (first room's dog) |
![]() The second room's dog |
![]() The third room's dog |
![]() The Witch |
![]() Master shoemaker Schaft |
![]() Little girl in village |
![]() The Tree |
![]() The Queen (nasty) |
![]() The King (really nasty) |
![]() The Castle guard |
![]() Man working in the Inn |
![]() Innkeeper's wife |
![]() The Innkeeper |
![]() Aid to the Queen |
![]() Village Policeman |
![]() The King's shoemaker (nasty) |
![]() Pompous village tailor |
![]() Scoundrel number one |
![]() Scoundrel number two |
![]() Scoundrel number three |
![]() Village children |
![]() The Princess's friend in the Palace |
![]() Old woman in the village |
![]() Man of letters |
Click the images below to visit the Story
Credits
The Soldier / Der Soldat | Rolf Ludwig |
The Leading Scoundrel | Heinz Schubert |
The Queen | Anna-Maria Besendahl |
The Dandy Scoundrel | Rolf Defrank |
The Fat Scoundrel | Hannes Fischer |
The King / Der Konig | Hans Fiebrandt |
The Princess | Barbara Mehlan |
The Witch / Die Hexe | Bella Waldritter |
Die Kammerfrau | Senta Bonacker |
The Innkeeper / Der Wirt | Fritz Schlegel |
Old woman / Altes Mutterchen | Maria Wendet |
Der Schusterjunge | Hans |
Sowie | Steffie Spira, Johannes Maus, Jochen Diestelmann, Kay
Sikor, Paul Böttcher, W.O. Eckhardt, Günter Ballier, Hans
Schäfer, Kay Sikor, W. O. Eckhardt |
Director | Siegfried Hartmann |
Screenplay / Drehbuch | Anneliese Kocialek, Fred Rodrian, Siegfried Hartmann |
Camera | Erik Gusko |
Editing | Hildegard Conrad |
Music | Siegfried Bethmann |
Producer | Anni von Zieten |
Written by | Hans Christian Andersen |
Trickaufnahmen | Ernst Kunstmann |
Nationaldpreistracer | Vera Kunstmann |
Bauten | Hans Poppe |
Ausfuhrung | Franz Furst |
Costume | Marianne Schmidt |
Makeup | Bernhard Kalisch / Margarethe Walther |
Ton | Gerhard Wieck |
Schnitt | Hildegard Conrad |
Regie-Assistenz | Heinz Mentel |
Kamera-Assistenz | Willy Flohr |
Aufnahme-Leitung | Otto Ziesenitz |