Alice in Wonderland (1949)

Director:

Dallas Bower

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (novel), Henry Myers (screenplay),

Stars:

Stephen Murray, Ernest Milton, Pamela Brown

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Stephen Murray	...	Lewis Carroll / The Knave of Hearts (voice)
Ernest Milton	...	The Vice Chancellor / The White Rabbit (voice)
Pamela Brown	...	The Queen of Hearts (voice)
Felix Aylmer	...	Dr. Liddel / The Cheshire Cat (voice)
David Reed	...	The Prince Consort / The King of Hearts (voice)
Joyce Grenfell	...	Ugly Duchess / Dormouse
Carol Marsh	...	Alice
Jack Train	...	Puppet Character (voice)
Peter Bull	...	Puppet Character (voice)
Ivan Staff	...	Puppet Character (voice)
Claude Hulbert	...	Puppet Character (voice)
Raymond Bussières	...	The Tailor / The Mad Hatter (voice)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

rabbit | part live action | queen | alice in wonderland | alternate dimension | 

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Genres:

Family | Action | Fantasy

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Details

Country:

USA France UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alice au pays des merveilles

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lou Bunin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Anscocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Carol Marsh insisted on doing some of the most difficult sequences herself, when a double would have been permissible. Falling down the rabbit hole to Wonderland entailed a hair-raising thirty-foot drop into a net. A famous French trapeze artist, Mile Roselie, showed her how to make the fall, but Carol completed the scene with bruised knees, scratched legs and six ruined pairs of stockings. Carol found the most difficult scene was the one where she slides down an enormous table leg. It was an almost perpendicular drop, and Carol admits she was very frightened while doing it.

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Connections

Version of Alice in Wonderland (1988)

User Reviews

Ruined by the French

Dr Liddel (Ernest Milton) encourages Dodgson (Stephen Murray) to read his latest work to the Queen (Pamela Brown) on her visit - about the removal of a bell that has rung for 200 years. The Dr's daughters, including Alice (Carol Marsh) are not permitted to meet the queen and so Dodgson takes them on a boat ride and recounts a story to compensate. And we begin Alice's adventures in Wonderland.....

I have given the film 5 stars purely for the story. Unfortunately, the French with their "mastery of puppetry" got involved with the proceedings. It's all rather grotesque and 3rd-rate - the characters and the sets look awful (all done by the French). The colour of the film has faded and it's all done in a very basic way. To give them credit, the "Frogs" got better with this kind of puppetry nonsense with "The Magic Roundabout" and "Hector's House".

Still, it's the story that is what we remember, eg, the drug connotations such as the caterpillar sitting on a magic mushroom and smoking a bong, and the Mad Hatter killing time so that it is always tea-time. There are also some great exchanges of dialogue, eg, at the Mad Hatter's tea party - is "eat what I like the same as like what I eat?" and "is say what you mean the same as mean what you say?", etc..

However, there are also some dreadful songs thrown into the mix. Overall, it's an OK film but no need to see it again.