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Merry Andrew starred Danny Kaye and Pier Angeli. Kaye is a teacher and house master at a posh private boarding school in Sussex. I don't fully understand the plot. Kaye apparently went on an archaeology trip and discovered love and the circus. The students are about 12-13 years of age and wear a school uniform. This would mean a preparatory school. A HBC reader tells us, "The uniform is a knicker suit with proper peak caps." In the scenes that I have seen, the boys wear grey short pants suits and caps. The boys have English accents. Three is a dance scene in their form room as well as other musical numbers. The image here shows the dance scene in the form room (figure 1). Kaye apparently thought he was still the Pied Piper of Hamlin. The impage is black and white, byt the movie is a color film. Kaye falls for a circus performer, played by Pier Angeli. At the end of the film the boys run off to see the circus, fully dressed in their uniforms, and Kaye then runs off to join the circus.
"Merry Andrew" was was a vehicle for Danny Kaye's comedic antics. The film was directed by Michael Kidd. The screenplay ws written by Isobel Lennart and I.A.L. Diamondo. It was based on a story, "The Romance of Henry Menafee", by Paul Gallico. Kidd also choreographed the film. Saul Chaplin composed the music and Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics for the film's score.
The boys have English accents. This would mean a preparatory school. Presumably the film was shot in England, apparently Sussex.
"Merry Andrew" starred Danny Kaye and Pier Angeli. There are quiteca few boys in the film, but we are not sure who they were.
There are several musical numbers in "Marry Andrew" to go along with Kaye's slap-stick antics. Kaye and the boys have a dance scene in their form room. The image here shows the dance scene in the form room (figure 1). I thought he was pretending to be the Pied Piper of Hamlin. The image is black and white, but the movie is a color. A reader tells us that this is the Pam dance scene from Merry Andrew. Andrew was apparently singing about the Greek god Pan. Pan was the god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs. The school the film is set in was a stogy private school. But Pan apparently enters in as the classics, including mythology, was given great attention. Latin was always taught, although only the best students took Greek. As one of the songs is "Pipes of Pan", the dance scene is surely the Pan Dance as our reader suggests.
Dannie Kaye ("Andrew") is a teacher and house master at a posh, stuffy private boarding school. (This is a bit trite because Hollywood always seems to paint boarding schools in this same stale image.) Kaye apparently went on an archaeology trip and discovered love and the circus. His students are about 10-12 years of age and wear a school uniform. Danny Kaye )plays an instructor at a boys' preparatory school. He's not on the best of terms with the school's headmaster who is also his father. The father wants his son to eventually take over the school, but not until he was molded in his image. Fat chance. Andrew wanted to be an archaeologist. While on leave he meets a circus performer (Pier Angelli), who seems to be Andrew's first love. At the end of the film his students run off to see the circus, fully dressed in their uniforms, and Kaye then runs off to join the circus.
The film is set at an Engish prep school. The boys wear a typicalmprep school uniform. A HBC reader tells us, "The uniform is a knicker suit with proper peak caps." In the scenes that I have seen, the boys wear grey short pants suits and caps.
Another reader writes, "The boys do indeed wear short pants with their uniforms. In one some of the boys are at the circus, and they wear peaked caps, as well. In another scene the boys are dressed in white long-sleeved shirts, white shorts, knee socks, and shoes, and light-colored pith helmets, apparently ready for an archeological expedition, which turns into a Kaye-lead song and dance number.
A reader comments, "'Merry Andrew' has its moments. The plot
and characterizations are rather weak. Danny Kaye's fans will enjoy the film for his comic style, though this is surely not its best example."
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