The Little Match Girl

"The Little Match Girl" is an incredibly depressing short story by Hans Christian Andersen and because it's so short and depressing I am surprised anyone would make a film version. However, there are actually quite a few shorts (including a Disney one which was shelved after it was completed) as well as the very cheap 1954 version.

The 1954 film was made in a set--with lots of cheap wooden props. It also comes off as very cheap because there is no dialog....just narration which was added later. It's not an effective way to tell the story and because of this and the cheap sets, it all seems very stagy.

The story is about a young girl selling matches on a snowy winter night. No one buys them and because she's so poor she stays out all night...ultimately freezing to death. In the interim, she has various dreams about nice Christmas stuff...as well as of her virgin Mary-like dead mother.

Depressing? Yup. Cheap? Oh, yes! Overall, I cannot recommend it and instead think you'd be better off reading the story yourself.