BFI Screenonline: Three Wishes, The (1953)

Three Wishes, The (1953)

Courtesy of Primrose Productions


35mm, black and white, 10 mins

Director	Lotte Reiniger
Production Company	Primrose Productions
Production Team	Carl Koch, Louis Hagen, Vivian Milroy
Music	Freddie Phillips

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A woodcutter frees a tree spirit and is awarded three wishes. His wife wastes the first wish on a plate of sausages. He, in anger, uses the second to attach the sausages to the end of her nose. They are forced to use the last wish to reverse the magic.

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The fairy-tale of wishes being granted is based on motifs by the Brothers Grimm. Lotte Reiniger interpreted and designed the material in her own satirical way.

In her story, the fairy, hovering over the bowl of sausages, appears and demands the return of the ring, but she grants Martin and Grete three more wishes and fulfils them right away: youthfulness, health, and harmony with each other.

Christel Strobel

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

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	Video Clips

	Complete film (10:03)

	GALLERY / SCRIPTS / AUDIO

	SEE ALSO

	Reiniger, Lotte (1899-1981)