Alice in Wonderland

A lovely film. For its status of historical document, for precise and wise sinthesis of the book , for touching special effects and for the air of innocence , very useful in the time of blockbusters. Sort, a seductive surprise and good opportunity for discover , again, the talented Cecil Hepworth and his special work.

This 1903 film by Cecil M. Hepworth is said to be THE first adaptation of the classic story "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. Running at a little over 8 minutes, the film is laughably poor when looked at today because of its primitiveness. However, such a comparison is not allowed because of its age. You cannot criticize this movie for having no computer graphics because there were none by 1903. Instead, superimposing and dissolves were done in a much harder way (some as overlaying different filmstrips) and took a great deal of work, so the special effects used in "Alice in Wonderland" are actually very good for the time.

The story is not entirely told in this short adaptation. Instead, Hepworth presents some of the highlights of the book--the shrinking and growing to get through the door, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, the Queen of Hearts. Because it is so old, it is understandable he didn't tell the whole thing--full-length feature movies were still in the future. Unfortunately, even if modern audiences could still find interest in this, any chance of that would be ruined by film deterioration. Not a few specks and scratches, actual, crumbling deterioration. You can see what is going on for the most part, but the truth is, modern audiences just won't find much value is any of it and film buffs who are used to this sort of thing will get much more out of this beat-up copy.

That said, for me it does have some interesting things to note. At the beginning of the film, they superimposed the short's title on the bush by which Alice sits before she falls asleep. This is something I don't think I've seen before from the early silent era and looks more up-to-date then a title card (although it was still there when the White Rabbit came along, so when he passed his head in front of it you could see his head right through the type). Also, several title cards are included as well which look authentic, not modern cards added to help with the story. This would make it one of the first movies to use title cards and thus very much ahead of its time.

The remnants of this silent movie was added to Jonathan Miller's Alice DVD as a Bonus.It has to be viewed as an historical document and hardly for entertainment value. But May Clarke deserved a better fate than being called "ugly".I have a photo of her on one of my Alice sites and she's at least attractive enough. This was the final film of the 3 she made,all before 1904 so there's no evidence of what her speaking voice was like. In answer to that rather ignorant remark I don't think any movie studios at this time employed children but the age of Alice should not be brought into question when you realize many older actreses played her.The child star was yet to be invented and all actors came from the stage When you think of it this Alice silent is now over 100 years old

Like that other 1903 "adaptation" Uncle Tom's Cabin, this very short movie is a succession of illustrations brought to life before a static camera. The Great Train Robbery of this same year was a great cinematic step forward in its use of film as story-telling. Nevertheless, Alice is a gem that has survived the ravages of time miraculously if rather battered. It is very primitive, but that also lends it a great charm, particularly the procession of the cards and their chase of Alice, with its host of little children dressed up as cards and having great fun on a sunny day in the park. For those who are not Alice lovers, this may barely register, but aficionados may happily have it on a permanent loop filling one whole side of a plasma screen wall (in a few years time that is). It is a strong candidate crying out for restoration, even though a number of frames will remain missing, particularly of the dog, who would later gain fame in Rescued by Rover! Have a happy Wonderland!

I just discovered this film the other day and was surprised at how interesting it was. Yes if it were to be made today it would be shot on the spot, but nobody expected anything from movies back then and I'm sure the people who originally saw it thought it was great.

I also admire the actors for having to rely solely on body language to tell the story and express what's going on, because obviously it's a silent film and has no sound.

I especially think that the costumes, props, and backgrounds look pretty good, even though the card procession was obviously shot in on a park road. :)

I just appreciate it for what it is, one of the first films ever filmed and some pretty good looking effects.