Heidi

One of the most-filmed children's classics is given a colourful makeover by Werner Jacobs in this lively German-language version. Defiantly resisting the example of such twee predecessors as Shirley Temple, Eva Maria Singhammer radiates homely vivacity as the little Alpine girl who is kidnapped from her beloved grandfather (Gustav Knuth) so she can rally the flagging spirits of disabled Gertraud Mittermayr in Frankfurt. Starting off rather like a junior rustic idyll, the central city segment of Johanna Spyri's tale is given some much-needed melodramatic steel by Margot Trooger, as the frosty governess.