PALLE ALENE I VERDEN (1949)
aka Palle Alone in the World
Article 4047 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 10-2-2012
Directed by Astrid Henning-Jensen
Featuring Lars Henning-Jensen and Lily Broberg
Country: Denmark
What it is: Children’s fantasy

A small boy wakes up to discover that he’s all alone in the world, and he goes out to have adventures.

I found this one on YouTube. It’s in Danish, but nonetheless, it’s pretty easy to follow, since this involves mostly voice-overs in which we here the child’s thoughts. It’s pretty charming, with the child learning how different the world would be in these circumstances; for example, he originally goes to a bank to fill a bag with coins to buy things, but soon figures out with no one around, he doesn’t need the money. He goes to a movie theater, but with no one to run the movie, he doesn’t have much fun. He also drives a streetcar, a fire engine, and finally a plane that takes him to the moon. The ending is a cliche, but appropriate given the fanciful nature of the story, and in this context, it’s just part of the charm.