Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1955 film)
A 1955 West German live-action adaptation of the Brothers Grimm tale.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (German: Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge) is a 1955 West German live-action film directed by Erich Kobler. Based on the 1812 Brothers Grimm story, it is one of several classic German fairy-tale films produced in the 1950s. The film is notable for casting children as the seven dwarfs and for using Neuschwanstein Castle as a filming location.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Erich Kobler
- Producer
- Hubert Schonger
- Writer
- Konrad Lustig · Walter Oehmichen
- Starring
- Elke Arendt · Adele "Addi" Adametz · Niels Clausnitzer · Dietrich Thoms · Renate Eichholz · Zita Hitz · Erwin Platzer
- Music
- Franz Miller / Carl Stueber / Anne Delugg / (US version) · Milton Delugg / (US version)
- Cinematography
- Wolf Swan
- Editing
- Horst Rossberger (as Horst Roßberger)
- Distributor
- Jugendfilm-Verleih / (1955) (West Germany) (theatrical) · Childhood Productions / (USA, English-dubbed) (theatrical)
- Released
- 27 November 1955 · West Germany
- Runtime
- 76 min.
- Country
- West Germany
- Language
- German
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film opens with a queen dying in childbirth after naming her daughter Snow White. The king remarries a vain, magic-wielding queen who consults a Magic Mirror daily. When the mirror declares Snow White fairer, the queen orders a hunter to kill her, but he spares her. Snow White finds refuge with seven dwarfs, who work in mines and allow her to stay in exchange for housekeeping.
The queen, learning Snow White is alive, attempts three times to kill her: first with a suffocating lace, then with a poisoned comb, and finally with a poisoned apple. The dwarfs revive her twice, but the apple succeeds. The queen is killed when a rock falls on her during a storm. The prince and his servant carry the glass coffin; the servant stumbles, dislodging the apple piece and reviving Snow White. She marries the prince, and the dwarfs host a wedding party.
Reader's Guide
This 1955 film is a significant entry in the post-war German fairy-tale film tradition, produced during a period when West Germany revived its cultural heritage through live-action adaptations of Grimm stories. Its use of child actors for the dwarfs—drawn from a dance group led by Suse Böhm—distinguishes it from animated versions. The film's setting at Neuschwanstein Castle reinforces its fairy-tale aesthetic. Though not as globally famous as Disney's 1937 animated feature, it remains a beloved classic in German-speaking countries and has seen multiple DVD releases in Germany (2007, 2015, 2024) and an English-dub DVD in the US (2020). Its legacy lies in preserving a literal, live-action interpretation of the Grimm narrative, complete with the queen's death by lightning and the accidental revival of Snow White.
Did You Know?
- The seven dwarfs were all played by children from a dance group led by Suse Böhm.
- Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany was used as a film set.
- The film was released on DVD in Germany in 2007 and again in 2015.
- The English-language dub was released on DVD in 2020 as part of a double feature from Frolic Pictures.
More in German fantasy films 1-24
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