If you had any sort of happy childhood
and your parents were nice to you then you definitely sat through Disney movies
and have seen his version of Cinderella.
So sure you know the cartoon version and possibly if you are awesome like me
used to watch the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version with Ginger Rogers, Walter
Pidgeon, Celeste Holmes, Lesley Ann Warren… if you have not seen this version I
command you to go to youtube and find some scenes from this movie now!! Stop
reading this now and go!
Ok
so you are back, lets continue… This version of Cinderella I am writing about is probably one you never even knew
existed until now if you are not a film buff or know who Mary Pickford is or watch
silent films. No worries I got ya on this one.
So
being familiar with the Cinderella story you should know that she was raised by
her mean stepmother who kept her hidden away so that her ugly daughters would
not have to compete with Cinderella’s beauty. In this tale a beggar woman waits
outside the girl’s home looking for something small to eat and drink. The sisters
and the mother ignore the woman but Cinderella is kind and gives the woman some
food. The beggar woman turns out to be the queen of the fairies. While
Cinderella is out in the wood looking for wood for the fire she is guided to a
spot by a group of fairies. Tired from her search Cinderella falls asleep. When
she wakes up she falls and hurts herself. Prince Charming is not far away and
sees her fall. His entourage laughs but he yells at them to stop. The Prince
finds Cinderella very pretty despite her rags and dreams of her in a nice
dress. That night Cinderella dreams of the prince and with an innocent
conscience she sees the fairies dancing in a clearing. The stepsisters had gone
to a fortuneteller that day who told them that a member of their family will
become royalty. The sisters have a guilty conscience that night waking up in a
panic and walk over to the window to see the fortuneteller and his ugly group
dancing around.
The
next day a letter is sent out to all the ladies of the kingdom that the King is
holding a ball for the Prince in order to find a husband. Like the Disney
version the sisters and the mother go to the party while Cinderella is left at
home. The queen of the fairies comes to Cinderella and makes a pumpkin into a
carriage, mice into horses, and rats into servants and gives Cinderella the prettiest
dress. Of course she has to be back by midnight or everything will go to the
way it was originally. When the Prince sees her he reminds her of the girl in
the woods. The sisters and mother think she looks like their abused sister. The
Prince walks with her in the gardens. The moment ends too soon when the clock
strikes twelve.
Take
a guess what happens… Cinderella’s shoe falls off, the prince finds her, and
marries her.
Alright
so here is the deal when sitting through this ninety-eight year old film… you need
to watch it as the silent 1914 film it is. There is really nothing special
about the film besides the fact that a twenty-two year old (and completely
adorable) Mary Pickford is the star. The two ugly stepsisters are played by men
so there is another reason to see this version. The movements of the actors are
very over dramatic. There is an awesome stop motion sequence with a clock going
all discombobulated in Cinderella’s dream. Just imagine you are an audience
sitting through this film in 1914 and you will think it is pretty cool. My
favorite scene was when Cinderella gets out of the carriage and pokes the
servants face and touches him in the side to check him out and the servant
jumps from being ticklish making her jump. You would have to see the scene it
is really cute.
As
I mentioned this version of Cinderella
has to be seen in its context as a silent film from ninety-eight year ago and
not with modern eyes or a modern mindset. This is not considered one of Mary
Pickford’s best film but this was one of her first feature length films and she
was still young. I liked her performance and liked this silent version of Cinderella.
No comments:
Post a Comment