Alice in Wonderland (1949)

Director:

Dallas Bower

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (novel)
Henry Myers (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 July 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Action | Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

Rabbit | Part Live Action | Queen | Alice In Wonderland | Alternate Dimension

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)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joan Dale	...	Edith Liddel (uncredited)
Elizabeth Henson	...	Lorena Liddel (uncredited)
Adele Leigh	...	Alice Liddel (singing voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Dallas Bower

Writing credits
Lewis Carroll		(novel "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland")
Henry Myers		(screenplay) &
Albert E. Lewin		(screenplay) (as Albert Lewin) &
Edward Eliscu		(screenplay)

Produced by
Lou Bunin	....	producer

Original Music by
Sol Kaplan

Cinematography by
Gerald Gibbs		(photography)
Claude Renoir		(photography)

Production Design by
Bernyce Polifka		(as Bernice Polifka)

Costume Design by
Florence Bunin		(costumes)

Makeup Department
Florence Bunin	....	coiffure
Florence Bunin	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Sam Fisher	....	unit manager
Benny Rubin	....	production director (as Ben W. Rubin)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marc Maurette	....	associate director
Vincent Permane	....	assistant director

Special Effects by
Irving Block	....	art director: special effects
Lloyd Knechtel	....	assistant: special effects

Animation Department
Richard Bernstein	....	model engineer (as R. Bernstein)
Erwin Broner	....	animation photographer
Lillian Davis	....	model maker
Oscar Fessler	....	puppet animator
Gene Fleury	....	layout designer (as Eugene Fleury)
William King	....	puppet animator
Ben Radin	....	puppet animator
H. Silversher	....	model maker
Art Babbitt	....	animator (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Inman Hunter	....	supervising film editor

Music Department
Edward Eliscu	....	additional lyrics
Ernest Irving	....	conductor: The Philharmonia Orchestra
Henry Myers	....	additional lyrics

Other crew
Benjamin Berg	....	technical director
Anne Deeley	....	continuity secretary (as ann Deely)

Production Companies

• Lou Bunin Productions

Distributors

• L'Alliance Générale de Distribution Cinématographique (1951) (France) (theatrical)
• DTP Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Souvaine Selective Pictures (1951) (USA)

Other Companies

• Ealing Studios  music recording

Also Known As:

Runtime:

76 min

Country:

USA | France | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Anscocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Lou Bunin Productions

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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Alphabet Conspiracy (1959) (TV)

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.