The Pied Piper

The Pied Piper

Come children of the universe, let Donovan take you away, far far away.

1972 · 90 min · ★ 5.9 · Fantasy, Drama

Greed, corruption, ignorance, and disease. Midsummer, 1349: the Black Death reaches northern Germany. Minstrels go to Hamelin for the Mayor's daughter's wedding to the Baron's son. He wants her dowry to pay his army while his father taxes the people to build a cathedral he thinks will save his soul. A local apothecary who's a Jew seeks a treatment for the plague; the priests charge him with witchcraft. One of the minstrels, who has soothed the Mayor's daughter with his music, promises to rid the town of rats for the fee. The Mayor agrees, then renigs. In the morning, the plague, the Jew's trial, and the Piper's revenge come at once.

Directed by Jacques Demy · Written by Jacques Demy

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Cast

Donovan The Pied Piper
Diana Dors Frau Poppendick
Donald Pleasence The Baron
Roy Kinnear Burgermeister Poppendick
John Hurt Franz
Michael Hordern Melius, Alchemist
Jack Wild Gavin
Peter Vaughan Bishop
Keith Buckley Mattio
Cathryn Harrison Lisa
Peter Eyre Pilgrim
David Leland Officer

Make it a double feature

3h 36m together

The Pied Piper

The Young Girls of Rochefort

Both from Jacques Demy.

More from Jacques DemySee all →

Musée Grévin

Musée Grévin · 1958

MovieDocumentary

A man dreams he is in a wax museum after it is closed for the night.The statues come to life and behave in mysterious ways.

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg · 2015

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

MovieComedyMusic

Geneviève lives with her mother who runs an umbrella shop in Cherbourg. She falls in love with Guy, who is called up for military service in Algeria and leaves the city. The lovers separate, promising each other eternal love. But Geneviève soon discovers that she is pregnant and ends up giving in to her mother's pressure by marrying Roland, a rich jeweler who has long coveted her. When Guy returns to Cherbourg, he discovers Geneviève's marriage and finds his seriously ill aunt who is faithfully cared for by Madeleine, who has been in love with him for years.

The 400 Blows

The 400 Blows · 1959

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel, life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents, Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene, trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

The Young Girls of Rochefort

The Young Girls of Rochefort · 1967

The Young Girls of Rochefort

MovieRomanceComedy

In the seaside town of Rochefort, twin sisters Delphine and Solange dream of love and artistic fulfillment beyond their quiet lives. As sailors, artists, musicians, and chance visitors pass through town during a weekend fair, a web of near-misses and romantic longing brings ideal partners tantalizingly close—without their realizing it.

Jacquot

Jacquot · 1991

Jacquot Demy, the son of a garage owner and a hairdresser, is fascinated by cinema and decides to pursue his dream of becoming a filmmaker by any means necessary.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg · 1964

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

MovieDramaRomance

This simple romantic tragedy begins in 1957. Guy Foucher, a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève make love. She becomes pregnant and must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.

Turning Table

Turning Table · 1988

On a winter night, the author of "The King and the Mockingbird" is visited by the cartoon characters he created in his studio. Along with a little clown, he screens a selection of his favorite shorts

Donkey Skin

Donkey Skin · 1970

MovieFantasyComedy

A fairy godmother helps a princess disguise herself so she won't have to marry her father.

Lola

MovieDramaRomance

A bored young man meets with his former girlfriend, now a cabaret dancer and single mother, and soon finds himself falling back in love with her.

Lust

This short film by Jacques Demy was based on his memories of growing up in Nantes, France. While it was initially made for the omnibus film THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS (as the segment on "Lust"), it has also been distributed and exhibited separately.

The Wedding in Monaco

The Wedding in Monaco · 1956

The Wedding in Monaco

MovieDocumentary

Exclusive footage captures the wedding of American screen star Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco.

Bay of Angels

Bay of Angels · 1963

MovieRomanceDrama

A bank clerk is drawn into the risky world of a gorgeous gambling addict.

Paris Belongs to Us

Paris Belongs to Us · 1961

Paris Belongs to Us

MovieMysteryDrama

A young woman joins a theatrical troupe where she slowly believes that the director is involved with a secret group and that he is in grave danger.

Model Shop

Model Shop · 1969

MovieDramaRomance

While trying to raise money to prevent his car from being repossessed, George is attracted to Lola, a Frenchwoman who works in a "model shop", an establishment that rents out beautiful pin-up models to photographers. George spends his last twelve dollars to photograph Lola, and discovers that she is as unhappy as he.

La Mère et l'Enfant

La Mère et l'Enfant · 1958

La Mère et l'Enfant

MovieDocumentary

This documentary short offers practical advice for mothers on how to take care of their babies, such as feeding and bathing.

A Room in Town

A Room in Town · 1982

MovieDramaRomance

Set against the backdrop of an increasingly violent strike, a worker falls in love with the middle-class daughter of his landlady.

More Like This

Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty · 1959

Sleeping Beauty

MovieFantasyAnimation

Cursed to die by the evil fairy Maleficent when she was a baby, Princess Aurora is sent into hiding under protection from three good fairies. As she grows up far away, Maleficent becomes increasingly determined to seal the princess's fate.

Kung Fu Cult Master

Kung Fu Cult Master · 1993

Kung Fu Cult Master

MovieActionComedy

A wild and rollicking martial arts fantasy extravaganza that features prized swords and swordsmen, a crazy monk attached to a rolling boulder, serious clan and cult rivalries, and lots of magic and flying.

Naked Weapon

Naked Weapon · 2002

MovieActionDrama

A mysterious woman, known as Madame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls and transports them to a remote island to train them as the most deadly assassins. CIA operative Jack Chen follows the case for 6 years with no leads, but when a series of assassinations begin to occur, Jack suspects that Madame M is back in business.

Willard

Willard · 2003

MovieHorrorDrama

Desperate for companionship, the repressed Willard befriends a group of rats that inhabit his late father's deteriorating mansion. In these furry creatures, Willard finds temporary refuge from daily abuse at the hands of his bedridden mother and his father's old partner, Frank. Soon it becomes clear that the brood of rodents is ready and willing to exact a vicious, deadly revenge on anyone who dares to bully their sensitive new master.

Tess

MovieDramaRomance

A strong-willed peasant girl is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumour that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge.

A Bittersweet Life

A Bittersweet Life · 2005

A Bittersweet Life

MovieActionDrama

Kim Sun-woo is an enforcer and manager for a hotel owned by a cold, calculative crime boss, Kang who assigns Sun-woo to a simple errand while he is away on a business trip; to shadow his young mistress, Hee-soo, for fear that she may be cheating on him with a younger man with the mandate that he must kill them both if he discovers their affair.

Freeway

Freeway · 1996

MovieComedyCrime

Following the arrest of her mother, Ramona, young Vanessa Lutz decides to go in search of her estranged grandmother. On the way, she is given a ride by school counselor Bob Wolverton. During the journey, Lutz begins to realize that Bob is the notorious I-5 Killer and manages to escape by shooting him several times. Wounded but still very much alive, Bob pursues Lutz across the state in this modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.

The Next Karate Kid

The Next Karate Kid · 1994

The Next Karate Kid

MovieActionDrama

Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.

The Omega Man

The Omega Man · 1971

MovieScience FictionAction

Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only human survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. Besides him, only a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people remain; sensitive to light, and homicidally psychotic.

Titus

MovieDramaHistory

Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.

Dead Man's Shoes

Dead Man's Shoes · 2004

Dead Man's Shoes

MovieDramaThriller

A soldier returns to his small town and exacts a deadly revenge on the thugs who tormented his disabled brother while he was away.

Missing in Action 2: The Beginning

Missing in Action 2: The Beginning · 1985

Missing in Action 2: The Beginning

Prequel to the first Missing In Action, set in the early 1980s it shows the capture of Colonel Braddock during the Vietnam war in the 1970s, and his captivity with other American POWs in a brutal prison camp, and his plans to escape.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter