original production:

DIE GOLDENE GANS

Cast: Kaspar Eichel (Karl), Karin Ugowski (the Princess)

PLOT OUTLINE:
A witch gives a kind young man a golden goose as a gift; the young man uses it to make a sad princess happy.

SYNOPSIS:
Once upon a time, a young man named Karl ventures out into the woods, to cut some wood. He is very lazy.

A strange old woman appears, and watches Karl attempt to chop down an old oak tree.

The old woman approaches Karl and asks him for a piece of bread and some wine, for she is hungry and thirsty. Karl refuses, as he would have none left for himself. The old woman vanishes into thin air. Carl continues trying to chop wood.

Meanwhile, back in the village, Karl's brother Klaus makes shoes and sings a song, while his brother Franz sits around, smoking a pipe. Franz burns himself while checking on the stew.

Karl returns home with a sore arm. He complains why there's no dinner ready. Klaus explains that it is because he did not bring home any wood. Karl breaks up their last chair for firewood.

The brothers argue over their future as they eat their meager dinner. Karl prepares a lunch for Franz, and sends him out to chop some wood.

Franz reaches the part of the woods where he is to chop wood. He falls into a stream.

The mysterious old woman appears before Franz, and asks him for some food. Franz refuses, and the woman vanishes into thin air. Franz attempts to cut some wood, but he is too weak.

Back at the shop, a youth runs in to inform Klaus that the king's emissary, Captain Hoffman, approaches. Hoffman enters the cobbler's shop, and orders Klaus to remove a nail from his shoe.

Karl tries to read a proclamation from the King: the King's daughter finds nothing funny, and anyone who can make her laugh is to be granted her hand in marriage, plus half the wealth of the kingdom!

Captain Hoffman falls off his chair, and leaves in a huff.

While Klaus is outside, Franz and Karl conspire to make the Princess laugh by bringing her some lovely dancing shoes which Klaus made.

Klaus goes out into the woods, and encounters the same strange old woman, who again asks for some food. Klaus is kind, and offers the woman his food. Klaus unwraps his bread, and is amazed to find it has been turned into a delicious pancake! And his canteen of water is miraculously turned into wine! The two share the feast, while Klaus tries to repair the old woman's shoddy straw basket.

The old woman is grateful, and tells Klaus to chop the down the tree, and there will be a reward for him at the bottom. The old woman disappears. Klaus chops down the tree. Underneath the stump lay a marvelous goose, apparently made of gold! Klaus admires the strange bird, and pets it. He continues to chop wood.

Klaus hears a woman's voice. A young woman enters the clearing, singing a song about pretty butterflies. She sees the golden goose. She asks Klaus about it. The girl introduces herself as Lisa. Lisa touches the goose, and her hand becomes stuck!

Klaus picks up the goose, and Lisa has to follow, as her hand is stuck fast. Klaus and Lisa and the goose all begin the journey back to the village. Klaus sings.

On their way, another young woman calls out for Lisa. It is her sister Gretel. Lisa tries to explain that she is stuck to the Golden Goose. Gretel doesn't believe her, and pets it. She is able to let go, but Lisa and Gretel's dresses then become attached!

Gretel informs the group that Prince Troublemaker and his gang are making trouble at their father's tavern, but Klaus is unafraid.

Meanwhile, at the tavern, Prince Troublemaker and his men are harassing the tavernkeeper. They plan to overthrow the king.

Klaus and the two girls arrive at the tavern, and eavesdrop on the villains. They enter the tavern, and explain their predicament to their amazed father.

Klaus suggests to the tavernkeeper to get the ruffians drunk. He then lures the tipsy men into the wine cellar for more wine. The tavernkeeper locks them in. Eventually, they all fall asleep, drunk.

Klaus, the two girls and the Golden Goose retire for the night. As they sleep, the tavernkeeper tries to steal one golden feather, but of course he becomes stuck as well. Klaus thinks that they should all go to see the Princess, and try to make her laugh.

Meanwhile, Franz and Karl continue towards the castle.

At the castle, crowds of people line up in an attempt to make the Princess laugh, with elaborate staged plays. After 555 attempts, the Princess is still bored to tears.

The King asks the court scholar, Count Wiserthan, what they should do. The Count starts to read from a history book, as he does every day.

The Princess tells the Count to go count the King's treasure. This affords the Princess some time away from her boring studies.

The Count attempts to amuse the Princess with a see-saw, but the Princess is not amused, and toys with the old fool.

Meanwhile, Klaus and his menagerie continue to make their way to the King's castle. On their way, they happen upon a band of minstrels, who soon become magnetically attached to the group.

Back at the castle, the Count is boring everyone with his history lessons. Eventually, the Count falls asleep. The Princess takes the opportunity to play the mandolin.

Karl and Franz arrive at the castle, and attempt to make the Princess laugh. They act like imbeciles, but fail to amuse the Princess.

The two brothers lie and say they are expert shoemakers. They offer the Princes Klaus' dancing shoes, but when she asks them to attach the heels, they cannot.

Klaus and his entourage arrive at the castle. Captain Hoffman berates the group, and tells them to leave. The group enter the castle gates, with Captain Hoffman, now attached to a donkey, taking up the rear.

At the sight of the advancing assembly, the Princess starts to laugh. The group forms a circle, and dances around the Princess. Klaus grabs the Princess, and they dance. The Princess commands her father to keep her promise, and let Klaus marry her.

The King plays dumb, and pretends to forget his promise. The Count Wiserthan decrees that Klaus must prove himself worthy before the promise may be kept.

An emissary approaches the King, and tells him that Prince Troublemaker and his men are about to attack the kingdom, in order to kidnap the Princess and steal the King's treasure!

The King decrees that whoever can safely bring the king's treasure to his quarters, will win the Princess' hand in marriage.

Franz and Karl try to move the treasure, but it is too heavy.

Klaus gets an idea, and enlists the King's soldiers to devise a pulley system, whereby the treasure chest can be hoisted up to the King's window.

After much effort, the chest is hoisted. The King is impressed. The Count, however, assigns the success to "magic", and insists that Klaus is not eligible to marry the Princess.

The King now states that whoever saves the kingdom from attack can have the Princess' hand.

The invaders begin to attack. Klaus and some of the King's men grab swords and take to battle.

Despite some expert swordplay, Prince Troublemaker makes it into the King's chambers. Klaus engages him in battle, and their two swords become magically connected. Troublemaker lets go of his sword in horror, but grabs it back. Klaus demands that Troublemaker leave the kingdom in peace. The horrified villain runs off.

The King offers Klaus the Princess' hand in marriage. Instantly, the spell of the Golden Goose is broken, and everyone is now detached.

The entire kingdom is now happy, and a great party ensues. The Golden Goose pecks at the heels of Count Wiserthan, forcing him to dance. All the young couples start to dance. Bored, the Golden Goose reads a book.

ENDE

REVIEW:
After RUMPELSTILTSKIN, anything would be a pleasure, and THE GOLDEN GOOSE is surely a pleasurable experience, light where RUMPELSTILTSKIN is dreary, colorful where RUMPELSTILTSKIN is drab, and lyrical where RUMPELSTILTSKIN is pedantic. There's even some elementary swashbuckling, action sorely lacking in RUMPELSTILTSKIN and other Murray tales.

In this, the wackiest and randiest of the German fairy tales released here by Murray, played largely for laughs, three brothers are tested by fate to see who's greedy and who's generous. The lone good one is "rewarded" with a magical golden goose. One soon wonders if this gift is more a blessing or a curse. Suddenly, everyone comes out of the woodwork, to get a piece of his good fortune. As our female narrator says Society parasitically clings to an individual's creative force, yet we are all connected, through the flesh, through our greed, and all thus contaminated by each other. What a lovely pre-AIDs AIDs metaphor! This most interesting treatise on how the machinations of the spirits can sometimes intervene for human good and instruction shares some of the same weirdo charm as the Mexican fairy tales.

There are also some interesting sets, and eccentric characters like the hero's daffy brothers, and various odd royalty with names like "Troublemaker" and "Wiserthan". The good brother does all the work and is treated like dirt by the others, in a gender inversion of the Cinderella story.

The Princess isn't just sad, she's seriously depressed. The title goose looks more tin than gold. Just so you know it's a Murray picture, there's a really awful song called "Butterfly," sung by a red-haired, pig-tailed, gabby village gal. Other bad mini-songs include "The Shoemaker's Song," "1 & 1."

COMMENTS:
* This great K. Gordon Murray fairy tale is now available on VHS home video, from the folks at Something Weird Video, with great trailers from the golden age of the Kiddie Matinee! Buy yours today!

* "THE GOLDEN GOOSE was a stiff," laments Murray associate Sheldon Schermer. "Didn't have the pull of RUMPELSTILTSKIN;" which proves, if anything, the power of marketing over content.

* A short sequence from THE GOLDEN GOOSE made it into Murray's fairy tale anthologies SANTA'S FANTASY FAIR and MOTHER GOOSE' BIRTHDAY PARTY, coexisting rather nicely with excerpts from the wilder, Mexican tales.

* Wonder of wonders, THE GOLDEN GOOSE has now obtained an English-language release on DVD! It's on the "Tales of Europe" series, with similar packaging as the German DEFA video collection, which includes titles like FRAU HOLLE and KONIG DROSSELBART. Do we dare hope that some of these will make it to our shores in lovely DVD versions in the near future?

* (01-01-05) Phil Lindholm supplies us with this hilarious review of THE GOLDEN GOOSE, from The New York Times, of all places! "THE GOLDEN GOOSE is a leaden reenactment of the story of the goose that laid the golden eggs, with a cast of simpering performers, and a tired, unhonking goose dyed muddy yellow." Ouch!