In 1917, with war raging across the Channel, a pair of little girls photographed fairies at the bottom of their North Yorkshire garden, and persuaded such luminaries as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini that the tiny winged creatures actually existed. That`s the premise for this dramatically simple, elaborately produced film for children which has been elegantly directed by Charles Sturridge. You don`t want to be too sceptical when you accompany the small fry to see this: the film earnestly insists the fairies are real, and special effects make them look convincing enough... The children, beautifully played by Florence Hoath and Elizabeth Earl, are more convincing than the celebrities - Peter O`Toole`s rather disdainful Conan Doyle, and Harvey Keitel`s rather unlikely Houdini. The closest the film comes to a villain is in the character of a nasty newspaperman whose compulsion to print a scoop intrudes on the girls` peaceful existence. Fairytale: A True Story is lovely to look at, but it didn`t convince me that winged creatures flit about the hedgerows. Mel Gibson`s production company was responsible for this sweet, ethereal film.
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