MOVIE REVIEW : NEW ‘RUMPELSTILTSKIN’: GRIM, BUT NOT GRIMM

Billy Barty, dean of the screen’s little people, is perfect casting in the title role of “Rumpelstiltskin” (citywide), the first in a projected series of feature-length musical fairy tales from Cannon Films.

He’s the most mischievous magical elf of them all, willing to spin straw into gold so that Katie (Amy Irving), the beautiful but humble miller’s daughter, may win the hand of a handsome prince (John Moulder Brown, stuck with a wimpy mustache) and live happily ever after. But of course there’s a catch to his offer, as anyone who grew up on the Brothers Grimm can tell you.

Max Robert’s songs have charm, and Irving is as lovely as Barty is amusing. Unfortunately, they--and others, most notably Priscilla Pointer’s snobbish queen and Clive Revill’s greedy king--are better than the film. Shot in England, Israel and Italy, “Rumpelstiltskin” has a depressingly cheesy appearance with many interiors so dark as to make you wonder if the cameraman isn’t trying to hide the apparent meagerness of the film’s budget. Too often “Rumpelstiltskin” looks more grim than Grimm. David Irving’s script is serviceable, but his direction is too frequently flat.

With such minuses, “Rumpelstiltskin” (rated G) has little to recommend it to adults, but it may get by with small children, for whom there are scarcely ever suitable movies anymore. In this “Rumpelstiltskin” does fill the bill--but only barely.

‘RUMPELSTILTSKIN’ A Cannon Group release of a Golan-Globus production. Executive producer Itzik Kol. Producers Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus. Writer-director David Irving. Camera David Gurfinkel. Music Max Robert. Production designer Marek Dobrowolski. Costumes Debbie Leon. Associate producer Patricia Ruben. Film editor Tova Neeman. With Amy Irving, Billy Barty, Clive Revill, Priscilla Pointer, Robert Symonds, John Moulder Brown.

Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes.

MPAA rating: G.