Director Wanda Appleton put a great deal of thought and care into "When I am King" (1981). Long before "Boyhood" (2014) followed one boy's life over the span of many years, "When I am King" (1981) did something similar. Two children (played by Blake Dennis and Lark Geib) were filmed in a modern-day setting in which we see they have formed a friendship. They imagine themselves living in Medieval times. The story they are imagining then plays out on the screen. We see the two children 9 years older. Rather than cast older actors to play these roles at the same time the filming was done with these two children, Wanda Appleton stopped the film's production for 9 years and filmed the Medieval-themed portion of the film with the same two actors, 9 years older. According to the liner-notes, they were 10 and 12 during the initial filming, and 19 and 21 when the film resumed production.
The Medieval story harks back to the modern-day setting in a dreamlike fashion which takes on the feel of a literal nightmare, a nightmare based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Jorinde and Joringel" (aka "Jorinda and Jorindel"). Because of the blending of two conceptually parallel stories in a non-linear story line, I found the film confusing to follow the first time I watched it. The film credits show the film was written by Wanda Appleton and her husband, Peter Appleton, albeit loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. The book which accompanied the videocassette I purchased was authored by only Wanda H. Appleton, and has excellent illustrations from artist Rosiland Solomon. (This film has yet to make it to DVD or streaming.) After reading the wonderful book and researching the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, I watched the film a second time with more understanding of the background, and I better understood the writers' vision.
What director Wanda Appleton likely did not anticipate was that Blake Dennis and Lark Geib, who had good screen chemistry together as children, would not have good screen chemistry together as young adults. Once upon a time Oscar-nominated Stuart Whitman and veteran actor Paul L. Smith gave their customary strong performances, the cinematography and costume design were very good, and the film included some nice ballads, each based on an aspect of the film's story line. Flora M. Gordon (aka Flora Lang) was the production manager on the film. What makes that particularly noteworthy is that Flora was one of the first women accepted into the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
Overall, "When I am King" (1981) is a raw but interesting film, and it is commendable that Wanda Appleton followed this unique and ambitious project to completion.
