La scarpetta e la rosa

This is a very clever and entertaining remake of Cinderella, with wonderful music, beautiful costumes and scenery, and a very talented ensemble cast. It also has a good deal of dry wit, particularly from the King, played marvelously by Michael Hordern, which sets it apart from other productions of Cinderella. It also features Richard Chamberlain trying his hand at his first musical, in the role of Prince Edward, the royal heir to the throne of Euphrania, who simply wants to marry for love, not political expediency. He is terrific in this role--handsome, aristocratic, with a very pleasant singing voice, and extremely graceful on the dance floor--he looks very much "The Prince." Gemma Craven is good in the role of Cinderella, and I particularly like her singing in the haunting "Tell Him Anything." The song "Secret Kingdom" with Richard and Gemma is beautiful, and one of the highlights of the entire movie. Though the film itself runs a little too long, I still love all the fine performances from this very talented cast, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys the musical genre.

Beautiful sounds bizarre if you do not ignore the similitaries with the musicals - fairy tales adaptations of the period. But the gifts, the precious gifts are the actors, the humor and the songs. And, sure the atypical godmother fairy. Edith Evans, Annette Crosbie, Michael Hordern,Kenneth More,Christopher Gable and Richard Chamberlain are the basic motives to see, again, time by time, this lovely film, a Christmas one, off course, because, more than each Halmark production, preserves the spirit of it. So, an old fashion lovely adaptation of classic fairy tale . And that is just, just great.

This is one of my favorite 'comfort films'--I associate it with being home from college at Christmas, when I first saw it on late-night TV. I now own it on DVD and watch it almost every Christmas. The 18th-century costumes are absolutely superb (love that moment when Margaret Lockwood as the Stepmother removes her black widow's cloak to reveal her scarlet gown), the script witty (especially when Julian Orchard as the prince's camp cousin shows up), and the performances delivered with a light touch (Annette Crosbie and Kenneth More are the best at this). Richard Chamberlain never looked so dashing--the way he gazes adoringly at Cinderella!!--and Cinderella herself, Gemma Craven, is sweet and lovely, with an excellent voice.

A couple of the songs clunk a bit (you decide which ones), but the dancing is great, especially in the ball scene and the 'Position and Positioning.' The dancers come from the Royal Ballet (the dancing mice, too), so the dancing is a delight. And Richard Chamberlain has a dance number with Christopher Gable of the Royal Ballet, and he certainly doesn't suffer by comparison!

And oh, the costumes! I first saw a rather faded copy of this movie, and I loved the frosty pastels of the ballgowns (in fact, I thought Cinderella's dress was white); I was slightly disappointed by the brighter colors on the DVD. But not too disappointed--this is a beautifully-dressed film.

My favorite scene is Cinderella's flight from the ball; she runs down a series of staircases as the clock tolls midnight, rose-petals fluttering down all the time, and her pale-pink gown and frothy white wig gradually darken into her ragged blue dress and chestnut hair. It's a stunning effect.

I, too, have been longing forever (since VCRs appeared) for this musical to become available on video. The Sherman & Sherman (& Morley) songs are perfectly good, and the choreography is super, but what I remember best is the great, iconoclastically non-chalant Fairy Godmother character (Annette Crosbie). I put her among the greatest steal-the-show supporting characters of all time, right along with Nicol Williamson's Merlin in "Excalibur."

My parents taped this movie from TV for me when I was young, and it has always remained one of my favorites. I've worn the tape out over the years, because even now that I'm a (supposed) grown up, I still get the urge to go back and watch again and again.

The film is beautiful, filmed on location in Europe (Austria, I think?) with a whimsical and richly romantic air. What I love most about this movie is that it makes the effort to flesh out the characters into three dimensional figures and to set against an (at least plausible) historical backdrop, while still maintaining a tiny bit of tongue-in-cheek self-awareness--a live-action period piece that enjoys the fact that it's really a fairytale and a musical. I've always thought that gave it just a hint of sophistication. The movie also explores more of the complexities of the stories and the characters' motivations. It carries us past the classic "slipper" moment and allows for a more complete ending, which I found more fulfilling.

As for the characters themselves, I loved Cinderella, neither the modernized girl-power of "Ever After" (which I loved, by the way) nor the blank goody-goody-ness of the Disney classic, but a very human and lovely blend of the two--with a gorgeous voice thrown in for good measure. Prince Edward, played flawlessly by Richard Chamberlain, gives us a hero to root for, in addition to our traditional heroine. You don't just wait for her to be found, you cheer for each of them to find the other. The rest of the cast is filled in with real people that the viewer comes to care for and value in the story almost as much as the main pair. You are not left with the typical stock characters that you see so often in fairy tales. I especially loved the Fairy Godmother, the Prince's Companion, the Chamberlain, the senile King, the Dowager queen...okay, I really love them all. Even the dog. :)

I despaired of every finding a "real" copy on VHS until recently. The VHS retained a few scenes that were edited from the TV version (I assume) for time, and I have to say I think that I liked the short version better. I thought that the it flowed more smoothly, and I found that I did not miss the musical numbers they cut. I was especially disappointed with "Find a Mate" (yes, they're serious) and the scene in the Fairy Godmother's house...very contrived and corny. They really don't equal the rest of the film. Although the Prince's prayer at the end is wonderful, and was cut from the TV version.

All in all, I just have to say that I love this movie, and always will.