Peter Pan (1960)

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

For a 1950's live production originally telecast in black and white (or was that because we did not own an expensive color TV back in the 60's?) my baby boomer childhood has wonderful memories of this simpler time when the family would gather around our black and white 24 inch television and be entertained by Peter Pan somehow magically flying out of the Darling families bedroom window with the children in tow. It is a time in my imagination that left me as a six year old just breathless.I have subsequently viewed Peter Pan many more times and in the decades that have followed I have passed the original Peter Pan dream VHS film on to my own children. The musical score with Mary Martin playing Peter Pan and Cyril Ritchard playing the dual role as the mean spirited (and for its time) quite scary Captain Hook as well as the Darling families father was just priceless and with so many exciting musical numbers to wow children of all ages.Quite simply television should bring back the luster that has seemed to have been forgotten by television programs such as this fine live musical telecast. If you ever get a chance to view this telecast which is rarely seen on television anymore I suggest that you gather up the family regardless of their age shut off your cell phones, computers, IPads, PlayStations and XBoxes and watch this original 1950's musical version of Peter Pan in its purest black and white form. Your family will enjoy the musical score and dance sequences, Tinkerbell's luminous glow, the tick-tocking clock that resides in the crocodiles stomach and constantly scares the nasty Captain Hook, and the children of Neverland wishing to find adoptive parents that will love them as much as our parents loved us.Exposing your children to a magical performance such as this Peter Pan version is worthy of a five ***** star perfect 10 out of 10 rating.

This movie was great, through the eyes of a child. Child of all ages will love it. The cast is actually very good at acting. The role of Peter Pan is casted by a girl actually, but don't let it fool you, she is an amazing actor and singer. You will be able to tell right from the start that she was meant for this role. It is a great movie to grow up with. Now of course not much beats the original animated version that Disney made, but for a movie with real people, it is the best one out there. There is so much imagination and creativity that went into this movie. The acting is set up on a stage and you can clearly tell you are in the audience watching from a far. It looks to me like it should have been made into a Broadway play. It follows the same story as Disney does with their version. If you have an active imagination or children you will love this movie! It is a great version of Peter Pan. Has some good songs in it as well!

Without any doubt, I can say emphatically that this 1960 show is NOT a kinescope (film copy off a TV tube) but a videotape made from a television switcher. It was shot on 1st generation RCA TK 40/41 color television cameras in NBC's Brooklyn, NY studios. Mostly it was done in full segments live to 2" quad tape but I could detect at least a couple pick-up edits. The cameras were huge and incredibly heavy and the unevenness of the studio floor shows up in some of the shots as the cameras are dollied in and out for close ups. We recently showed the VHS version of this show to our 4 year old. He liked it but he likes the Disney animated show better.The technical quality of this VHS version from GoodTimes Home Video is only fair. Oddly enough, it is recorded in LP mode - the 4 hour speed. The audio track does not even use the VHS hi-fi tracks so the fidelity is really lacking. If it had been done in the best SP mode (2 hour speed) using the hi-fi tracks - the picture and sound would both have been better. The box reads SP mode but the tape is not.I have seen other color videotape of this era and it can actually be quite good - this tape is not. Perhaps the DVD transfer (about 1999) was better but I have never seen it. DVD is inherently sharper than VHS. The VHS version was produced in 1990. VHS quality has also improved substantially in the last 17 years.The show is what it is - and for me - the weak technical quality really gets in the way of the presentation. Although I loved it as a kid, it disappoints me now.Mary Martin is good but Cyril Ritchard as Captain Hook is fantastic!Even as a kid, I never did understand why they had a woman play Peter. Lord knows there have always been plenty of very talented boys who could play the role. Disney Studios and MGM were never at a loss to find the right kid to fill any part - no matter how challenging.

This version of Peter Pan is etched forever in my memory. A great score, a great cast -- what more is there to say.Yes, Miss Mary Virginia Martin was 40-something when she played the title part, all the while introducing the world to The Sound of Music on Broadway, and she played THAT splendidly as well.As this great story marks its centennial in 2004, it would be a coup to offer the 1960 version on DVD.Just think lovely thoughts.