A Gift for Heidi (1958)

Sandy Descher, Douglas Fowley, Van Dyke Parks, Peter Capell, Erik Jelde ... see more  , Rolf Wanka

One summer holiday in the life of the famous children's book character Heidi, the orphan girl who lives with her grandfather (whom Heidi, like everybody else including the cast list, calls "Alm Uncle"... read more ) on the outskirts of a small village in the Alps. Heidi has a gift of three carved wooden figures made by a craftsman neighbour: Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. However, rather than gold, frankincense, and myrrh, her grandfather and the village doctor gradually teach Heidi the idea that the gifts they bring are faith, charity and hope. Adventures include Heidi entering her friend Peter for a singing competition without telling him; befriending a rich but lonely man from the big city who is an associate of the father of Heidi's little girl friend who comes to stay for the holidays; and joining Peter on an expedition up the highest mountain in the neighbourhood, in a bid to rescue a soldier and his bride who on their honeymoon decide (against the advice of the children and Alm Uncle that it is dangerous at this time of year) to climb the peak, only to be trapped by an avalanche below them, after the bride injures her ankle. The solution: call in the U.S. army -- hence all the military bit parts in the cast list.