Dr. Coppelius (1966) User Reviews

Leaping lads and ladies!

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 17 April 2011]

Stilted Spanish-made adaptation of the ballet libretto "Coppelia", busy on its feet and yet with little personality behind or in front of the camera. In a small village, the curious Dr. Coppelius keeps the townspeople at bay by setting off innocuous explosions; what he's really hiding is a fantastic workshop filled with life-size dolls of his own creation. When intrepid young sweethearts break into the doctor's house, they discover his secret, with the girl impersonating the doctor's latest invention. "Dr. Coppelius" was apparently a labor of love for Ted and Jo Anna Kneeland--he directed, she choreographed the dancing, and they both had a hand in the writing; yet, despite an imaginative art direction and production design, the film seems rather unwieldy, most especially during the dance sequences which are poorly-staged. Barely circulated in the late-1960s, the Kneelands tried for another release in 1976 (using the title "The Mysterious House of Dr. C."), adding horrendous narration and character voice-overs, two animated dream sequences, and songs to explain nearly every bit of human interaction. It's certainly a curio--and a good-looking one, with changing light cues in garish golds, blood reds, mad pinks, and frosty blues--yet the effort is best described as a misfire. ** from ****

Pleasant and different

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 2 February 2014]

Ballet movie about an inventor named Dr. Coppelius (Walter Slezak) who creates life-sized mechanical dolls and passes them off as real people. When I say ballet movie, I should stress there is no dialogue. It's entirely driven by music and dance with silent acting. This might not be to everyone's tastes. I enjoyed it but this isn't the type of thing I could watch regularly. But every once in awhile is nice. It's a great-looking picture. The colors, the sets, the costumes are all vivid and lavish. The dancing is wonderful. I'm no ballet connoisseur but it all seemed lovely and graceful to me. There was a re-release version in the '70s apparently, which was poorly titled The Mysterious House of Dr. C. This version features narration, animation, and other intrusive elements added to it. Thankfully, that is not the version I saw. Dr. Coppelius might not be for everyone, but if you like ballet or you like to try new things, give it a shot and I'm sure you'll find it entertaining.

Gorgeous and colorful US/Spain co-production performed by splendid dancers from Liceu of Barcelona , Spain

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 24 June 2021]

Film based on the ballet Coppelia from libretto Coppelia by Charles Nuitter and text based on ballet written by Arthur Saint-Leon . Dealing with a sinister inventor called Doctor Coppelius : Walter Slezak who is terrifying the population to keep his dark secret . He is making strange living dolls created in his fantastic mansion . While a young named Franz is interested in a doll of the Coppelius' creation and then his fiancee : Claudia Corday and her friends break into the doctor's house to investigate . This is "entertainment" !

This is rhapsody of colour expressionism, reaching delirious heights in the ballet scenes , but never becoming too brass and smothering its own nuances. Much better now that it's restored including impressive classy dances and superb Flamenco dancing, being embellished thanks to its chronatic aesthetic and high-caliber score . And being made in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger style as The Red Shoes , Tales of Hoffman , Honeymoon , though in Dr Coppelius is completely music and dance . Stars Walter Slezak as the weird doctor Coppelius, giving a sympathetic but silent acting by mime and gestures , and a lot of dancers and expert ballerinas and brief appearance by some actors as Luis Prendes playing the Mayor and voice by Terry Thomas .

Here stands out the splendorous Art direction from Gil Parrondo who won Academy Awards for Patton and Nicholas and Alexandra . As well as the picturesque and brilliant cinematography in Technicolor/Techniscope by Cecilio Paniagua who photographed international co-productions , such as : Treasure Island , 100 Rifles , Island of the Doomed , Commando, Sonatas and several others .The motion picture was professionally written/produced/directed by Ted Kneeland , aided by his wife Jo Anna Kneeland . Being shot in Madrid, in Samuel Bronston Studios . And it won several Awards , as it obtained Winner Prize of the National Syndicate of Spectacle : Best Set Decorator Gil Parrondo, among others . Rating 7/10 for the general public and 9/10 for the classic ballet enthusiasts . Worthwhile watching .

Lavish, quirky and unjustly forgotten

[VinnieRattolle · 9/10 · 28 April 2011]

Spoiler-lite. In 1966, the classic ballet "Coppélia" got a big-screen makeover. Familiar Austrian actor Walter Slezak ("Lifeboat") starred as title character Dr. Coppelius, a lovably diabolical inventor who delighted in terrifying the townspeople to keep them from learning his secret: the guests frequently seen in his home were actually life-sized wind-up toys that he'd built. But when a young man named Franz (Caj Selling) flirts with one of the good doctor's creations from afar, his girlfriend Swanhilda (Claudia Corday) and her pals break into the doctor's foreboding mansion and discover the truth. And then it gets really weird...

Featuring lavish sets, costumes, camera-work and choreography, the movie is wonderfully off-kilter... but admittedly, as a whole it doesn't entirely gel. Slezak and Corday are thoroughly appealing and clearly relished their roles. Unfortunately the Franz character has little to do but prance around seeming overtly gay despite his advances towards two women. A secondary love story for Dr. C. which was devised especially for the film feels a bit forced, but Eileen Elliott is delightful as his wannabe girlfriend. And perhaps it's because I'm not a ballet fan, but it seems like there's an inordinate amount of dancing -- there's several overlong sequences featuring the townspeople kicking up their heels which have virtually nothing to with the story and don't further the plot. Though I suppose that was a trend at the time ("Oliver!," "Bedknobs and Broomsticks," etc.). Still, the movie is engaging -- clearly it was a labor of love for everyone involved -- and anyone who likes the production design in old time horror movies should get a kick out of Dr. C's mysterious house.

The movie sprang to life from an experimental mime/ballet improv workshop in Florida sometime in the mid-'60s. Husband and wife team Ted and Jo Anna Kneeland helmed the film (he directed, she choreographed), they got an investor from Florida, assembled an international cast and filmed in Madrid. When it finally got a global release in 1968 as "Dr.?? Coppelius!!!," the movie was met with glowing reviews on both sides of the ocean. Unfortunately, soon after the premiere the distributor filed for bankruptcy and the film got ensnared in a legal mess. Once the creators re-established their rights, the movie was reworked and re-released in 1976 as "The Mysterious House of Dr. C.," but that version -- which included overdubbed songs, dialogue, narration and two animated dream sequences -- was altogether ignored. There's been a lot of criticism of the '76 version, but it's not entirely deserved. The original filmmakers added words to make their story easier to follow, it's not as if it was destroyed by clueless studio executives (according to the credits they even brought back Veronica Kusmin to voice her character's animated replacement). The '68 cut was eventually released on VHS in the USA and UK, but it languished on video shelves and is now long out of print. Sad story, but now that Turner Classic Movies has unearthed both the original and '70s edits of the movie, perhaps the film will finally find the audience that it so greatly deserves.

Odd post-script. It's a total fluke that I discovered this, but Jerry Goldsmith's score for the first "Gremlins" syncs up with the movie in a really freaky "Dark Side of the Rainbow" sort of way.

There are two versions of this rare film.

[Purple-daisy · 10/10 · 22 October 2011]

There are two versions of this rare film: "Dr. Coppelius" (1968) and "The Mysterious House of Dr. C" (1976).

Here is my review for "Dr. Coppelius" (1968). This ballet film is very rare. I hope a DVD of "Dr. Coppelius" (1968) will be released, because this film deserves more recognition.

This is a charming, uplifting film, with ballet, Delibes music, and pantomime only. It combines wonderful dancing, music, comedy, romance, and magic, all in brilliant colors. The costumes and sets are lavish.

(Some lite spoilers here.) This is the basic storyline of "Dr. Coppelius" (1968). The film is set in a European village during the 1800s. Dr. Coppelius is an eccentric inventor and alchemist, who creates lifelike mechanical dolls (automatons) in his spooky house on a rocky hill. Franz, a village lad, becomes infatuated with a beautiful automaton named Coppelia, who wears a lovely pink Victorian dress. Franz' girlfriend Swanhilda gets jealous, and sneaks into Dr. Coppelius' house, where she has many adventures.

The original "Dr. Coppelius" (1968) film has numerous superb ballets. There is a spectacular large-scale ballet in the village square, with dozens of ballet dancers wearing red folk costumes, illuminated with vivid red and pink light. The 1968 film has a magical, fairy tale atmosphere. I give the 1968 film ten stars.

Here is some information about "The Mysterious House of Dr. C." The 1968 film was drastically edited in 1976, adding a voice-over narration, cartoon animation, and songs. Several ballets were cut short. It was renamed "The Mysterious House of Dr. C." The voice-over narration, cartoons and songs are distracting, and interrupt the flow of the film. I much prefer the original "Dr. Coppelius" (1968) movie, which is a true classic ballet film.

Lots to like

[carolyntperry · 8/10 · 30 January 2014]

I happened on this movie yesterday afternoon on Turner Classic Movies, and I found it charming. If you're used to ballets you understand that they often use fairy tale plots as an excuse for lots of dancing so the stories are in no way intended to be realistic but are used simply as an excuse for dance. Despite the criticisms of lighting and settings, the quality of the dancing and the delightful characterizations of Slezak and the dancer playing his daughter make the movie worth watching. I would love to see it be made available as a DVD so that I could use it to introduce my grand daughters to a ballet with a plot that does not contain frightening scenes or deaths of main characters.

I thought I was going to be dreadfully bored. I was wrong.

[mark.waltz · 10/10 · 7 June 2022]

Thanks to the stunning music of Léo Delibes and the outstanding art direction, costumes and dancing, this ballet movie drew me in from the opening credits. I am not a ballet fan at all, and even an excellent film like this wouldn't draw me in to the world of ballet unless the New York City ballet was doing a revival of this. I doubt that this would interest children of today unless they had an interest in dance, but probably in the '60s, children could be more flexible due to the themes of darkness that creates some stunning visuals and a set that is reminiscent of Munchkinland and Brigadoon and the country of Vulgaria from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".

The only reason why I picked this one to watch was because of the presence of veteran character actor Walter Slezak in the title role, and he's only a minimal presence, utilized as the antagonist creating very realistic lifelike wind up dolls that the hero falls in love with. The sets in his house are reminiscent of something out of "Dante's Inferno" and are unforgettable. The music is truly grand, and the styles of dance alter enough so the viewer gets a chance to experience different moods between the music and the movement. This is the type of movie specialty where the viewer must put away all outside distractions and just sit back and take everything in. A stunning experience that stunned even me.