*** clothing and costues worn by child actors: Oliver Grimm








Clothing and Costumes Worn by Child Actors: Oliver Grimm (Germany, 1948- )

 Oliver Grimm
Figure 1.--Oliver Grimm was one of the most popular German child film stars in the 1950s. He made many Heimat films. Here we see Oliver in one of his early films, "Frühlingslied" (1954). He would have been about 6 years old. A German reader tells us that it was a real tear jearker.

Oliver Grimm is another important German child star from the 1950s. We know little about his personal life, except that he was born in Muich. After the War Germany made many highly sentimental films, often set in the Alps or in rural areas, harening back to a simpler, traditional past. One was a German reder who particularly remembers is a real tear jearker--"Frühlingslied" Oliver had an extensive film career as a boy and has appeared in more than 20 films, mostly in the 1950s. He also appeared on television. We have information about his films, but know little about his performances. Most of hilms were largely circulated only in Germany. We know nothing about his background and personal life, Hopefully our German readers will be able to provide some details about Oliver anf his career.

Parents

Oliver was the son of director, Hans Grimm, Oliver. Actually Oliver began his film career when his father was the sound engineer. As Oliver became an important star, his father began directing movies, in part because he could direct his son.

Childhood

We know little about his personal life, except that he was born in Munich (1948). He seems to have litteraly grown up in movie studios. He made his first film at age 3, but as his father worked as sound engineer, he probably spenbt some time in studios even earlier.

Education


Heimat Films

. A popular film genre in Western Germany was the Heimat film. We are familiar with West German and Austrian Heimat films. We do not know if they were mase before World War II, but we notice them after the War. We notice the films in the 1950s. Some may have been made in the 1960s as well. Heimat means a native homeland film. They are sentimental films, often teat jearkers. They were shot in senic rural locations--often the Alps. Many were low-budget rather formulaistic films.

Film Career

Oliver Grimm is another important German child star from the 1950s. After the War Germany made many highly sentimental films, often set in the Alps or in rural areas, harening back to a simpler, traditional past. One was a German reder who particularly remembers is a real tear jearker--"Frühlingslied" Oliver had an extensive film career as a boy and has appeared in more than 20 films, mostly in the 1950s. Unfortunately, we know very little about these films. Oliver began his film career at about age 3 years. Oliver's first film was "Vater braucht eine Frau" (1952). He played Tom. He next appeared in "Fanfaren der Ehe" (1953). He was an uncredited Kind. He made another film in 1953, "Moselfahrt aus Liebeskummer" (1953). He played Kaspar Schäfer. Oliver made three films in 1954. The first was "Frühlingslied" (1954) also marketed as "Piccoli amici" (Italy). This film like many of Oliver's films was a real tear jeaker. Next was Morgengrauen (1954) in which he played Pucky Schramm. The next film was based on a child literary classic, "Heidi und ihre Freunde" (1954). The next year he made "Wenn der Vater mit dem Sohne" (1955) in which he played Ulli. He made another film in 1955, the first one which was circulated in Anerica, "Griff nach den Sternen" (1955). Oliver played Christian. The U.S. release titles were "Reach for the Stars" and "Reaching for the Stars". Oliver made only one film in 1956, "Mein Vater, der Schauspieler" (1956). He played Michael. His next film was "Kleiner Mann - ganz groß" (1957) in which he played Robby. The English title for internarional release was "Little Man on Top". Oliver made "Der Schwarze Blitz" (1958), playing Andi. In the same year he made "Majestät auf Abwegen" (1958). He made "Das Schöne Abenteuer" (1959) in which he played Pierre Bridot. The Enlish-language international release title was "Beautiful Adventure". The year 1960 was a very busy year for 1960. He appeared in "Schick deine Frau nicht nach Italien" (1960) playing Jokki. The American release title was "Do Not Send Your Wife to Italy". In the same year he played in "Frau Irene Besser" (1960). Next he appeared in a TV production, "The Magnificent Rebel" (1961), playing the Blind Boy. He then played in "Isola Bella" (1961) playing Jakob. He appeared in "Reach for Glory" (1962) in which he played Mark Stein. Finally he appeared "Lieder klingen am Lago Maggiore" (1962). This was his last film I know of which he played as a boy. He would have been about 13-14 years old. I'm not sure why he essentially ended his movie career at this point. He as appeared in some films as an adult.

Costuming

Mabny of these films, especially the early ones, were low budget films. This is important because with low budgets, ecomomies had to be found. One are that could be economized was costuming, especially when the actor was not the main character or a glamerous star. The children in many of these films mave simply appeared in their own clothes. There were exceptions of course, especially wear regional dress was required, but geerally speaking we believe that many of these films, epecially the low budget films, were often reasonably accurate depictions of contemprary dress.

Television

Oliver also appeared on television, but his career was very limited. After his movie appearances he voiced the part of Kimba in the TV series "Jangaru taitei" (1965). The series was also known as "Jungle Emperor" for its international release and "Kimba the White Lion" for its international release. (USA)








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Created: 8:34 PM 12/7/2004
Last updated: 4:20 AM 12/8/2004