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Jack and the Beanstalk (1955)
 

Courtesy of Primrose Productions

Main image of Jack and the Beanstalk (1955)
 
35mm, colour, 12 mins
 
DirectorLotte Reiniger
Production CompanyPrimrose Productions
Production TeamLouis Hagen, Vivian Milroy
MusicFreddie Phillips
NarratorDeryck Guyler

After Jack makes a deal in the market, he ends up with mysterious beans that turn out to have magical powers...

Show full synopsis

Following the conclusion of the fairy-tale series, Lotte Reiniger took to experimenting: the familiar black and white was replaced by colour. In 1955, she designed the movie Jack and the Beanstalk, based on a popular English tale, with black silhouette figures set in front of coloured backgrounds.

It was Lotte Reiniger's first colour film for Primrose Productions, even though she had already designed short promotional and informational films in colour for the British government in the late 1930s, and again after World War II.

Christel Strobel

*This film is included in the BFI DVD compilation Lotte Reiniger: The Fairy Tale Films.

Click titles to see or read more

Video Clips
Complete film (11:34)
GALLERY / SCRIPTS / AUDIO
Monthly Film Bulletin review
SEE ALSO
Reiniger, Lotte (1899-1981)