I love the first part of HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, especially the songs. However, once he meets up with the ballerina and her husband, I truly despise the rest of the film. [SPOILER ALERT!] When Farley Granger locks Danny Kaye in the closet, and leaves him there so that he misses the ballet, I just about lose it. And then the ballerina and her husband laugh it off. [END OF SPOILER ALERT] That is when the whole film becomes nasty, meanspirited, humiliating, and Yes, even smarmy.
Other than that, the film is fine. And it is a dumb ballet.