El ceniciento

The old story told with a twist. The sexes are reversed in this one.

This time it's Jerry Lewis victimized by a wicked stepmother and her 2 hoodlum sons. Who else but Ed Wynn could play a fairy godfather?

Dame Judith Anderson, a veteran player of the wicked, is at it again but how can we expect this great lady to add comedy to spice up her performance. She needed to do her part with a comic twist as Jo Van Fleet did in the television version of "Cinderella." Sadly, that's missing. Playing the role straight is of no consequences in this farce. The sons come off like underworld hoods. It's a little too heavy for this film.

Jerry is funny but his attempts at singing fall quite flat.

Nice to show the kiddies that guys can be victimized too.

This should've been foolproof: Jerry Lewis playing a male variant of Cinderella, unloved and hoping to go to the ball. Talented writer-director Frank Tashlin allows Lewis to run rampant with the idea, which turns out to be a one-joke affair. Production is glossy, but the execution is enervated, overlong and fairly unfunny from the start. Jerry predictably mugs--he's never less than shameless--but with such weak material (and too much incidental chatter), he simply becomes a nuisance. His entrance in the ball sequence is, however, a wonderful bit, but it can't save the movie from being a huge disappointment. *1/2 from ****

As a pre-teen at a Saturday matinee I enjoyed this Jerry Lewis movie but watching it as an adult I realize it could have been much better. Jerry used Anna Maria Alberghetti as a mere character actress as the princess failing to use her talents to full potential making this a bit more of a musical comedy. In spite of a great cast Jerry could have produced something greater than a grade-B comedy more in a class with some of his better movies. Missed opportunities indeed!

I thought this was the cutest movie I've ever seen. Jerry Lewis is absolutely hilarious. I was not a big Jerry Lewis fan when he worked with Dean Martin. I had a very hard time getting into his work. However, when he went out on his own, I really became interested in his work. I would like to make mention of some things I found very interesting and very funny in this movie. For example, instead of a fairy God mother (like Cinderella had), he had a fairy God father. He also read approx. 50 words when reading the inscription on the ring given to him by his deceased dad. Like Cinderella, Cinderfella was a loving, hard-working and honest person who was treated unfairly at first. He waited on his step mother and step brothers hand and foot. I happily remember when he went to the kitchen to make orange juice and proudly put his hand out the kitchen window, pulled in a tree branch, took a knife and cut off several very large orange to use in the juice. I thought it was creative to have him listen to the radio and act out playing the flute. I loved it. But, like Cinderella, Cinderfella was rewarded in the end for all his hard work. I waited with excitement to see how he would get to the ball and loved what the writers came up with.. And when he made his grand entrance into the ball, I couldn't help notice what a smooth dancer Jerry Lewis really is. I thought the music was beautiful. After I saw this movie I had such a warm loving feeling in my heart and I really thank God for this touching comedy. Jerry Lewis is the funniest actor in the world and his shoes (glass or leather that is) will be very hard to fill in the future. Thank You.

I have nothing against Jerry Lewis - in fact, I've found several of his other movies funny. CINDERFELLA, however, was quite painful to sit through. The fault chiefly lies on Tashlin, who wrote and direct. He milks a gag endlessly, and there aren't very many humorous things in the movie in the first place. The music numbers consist of bad songs sung badly. Near the end of the movie, the movie looks like it went through some major editing, resulting in a number of things not explained or resolved. One good thing about the movie is the sets - they look lavish!

I hear they are planning to remake this movie. Though I usually balk at remakes, at least here they are planning to remake a BAD movie - which means there is plenty of room for improvement.