Alice in Wonderland (1933 film)
| Alice in Wonderland | |
|---|---|
 Ethel Griffies and Charlotte Henry |
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| Directed by | Norman Z. McLeod |
| Written by | Joseph L. Mankiewicz William Cameron Menzies |
| Starring | Charlotte Henry W. C. Fields Edna May Oliver Cary Grant Gary Cooper Edward Everett Horton Baby LeRoy |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 22, 1933 |
| Running time | 90 min, 77 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Alice in Wonderland is a 1933 film version of the famous Alice novels of Lewis Carroll. The film was produced by Paramount Pictures, featuring an all-star cast. It is all live-action, except for the Walrus and The Carpenter sequence, which was animated by Leon Schlesinger Productions.
Stars featured in the film included Charlotte Henry as Alice, W. C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Edna May Oliver as the Red Queen, Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle (Grant's star was still on the ascent at the time), Gary Cooper as the White Knight, Edward Everett Horton as The Hatter, Charles Ruggles as The March Hare, and Baby LeRoy as The Joker.
This version was directed by Norman Z. McLeod from a screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. It also drew heavily from Eva LeGallienne and Florida Friebus's then-recent stage adaptation.
A notable flop at the box office, the film cast doubt on whether or not a live-action fantasy peopled by strange-looking characters could be successfully presented on the screen, until MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939) erased such doubts, at least in the minds of some critics. Nevertheless, this film remains as of 2011 the only major live action Hollywood-produced film directly adapting the original '"Alice" stories. (The 2010 Alice in Wonderland would be the next to use the title, however it is a sequel to the original story.)
The film is occasionally broadcast on cable television channels such as Turner Classic Movies. The original running time was 90 min., but when EMKA bought the television rights in the late 1950s, it was cut to 77 minutes. Universal Studios released the cut version to DVD on March 2, 2010, marking the film's first home video release.
[edit] Cast of characters (in alphabetical order by actor's name)
- Richard Arlen: Cheshire Cat
- Roscoe Ates: Fish
- William Austin: Gryphon
- Gary Cooper: White Knight
- W.C. Fields: Humpty Dumpty
- Leon Errol: Uncle Silbert
- Louise Fazenda: White Queen
- Alec B. Francis: King of Hearts
- Richard "Skeets" Gallagher: Rabbit
- Cary Grant: Mock Turtle
- Lilian Harmer: Cook
- Charlotte Henry: Alice
- Sterling Holloway: Frog
- Roscoe Karns: Tweedle Dee
- Baby LeRoy: Joker
- Mae Marsh: Sheep
- Polly Moran: Dodo Bird
- Jack Oakie: Tweedle Dum
- Edna May Oliver: Red Queen
- May Robson: Queen of Hearts
- Charlie Ruggles: March Hare
- Ned Sparks: Caterpillar
- Ford Sterling: White King
- Alison Skipworth: Duchess
- Edward Everett Horton: the Hatter
- Jackie Searl: the Dormouse
- Marion Darlington: Alice's crying voice (uncredited)
[edit] External links
- Alice in Wonderland at the Internet Movie Database
- Entry at Turner Classic Movies
- Review at TVGuide.com
- Alice in Wonderland (1933) was released for the first time on DVD on March 2, 2010.
- Reprints of historic reviews, photo gallery at CaryGrant.net
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