Cinderfella (1960)

This was Jerry Lewis' answer to the classic Cinderella story. When his father dies, poor Fella is left at the mercy of his snobbish stepmother and her two no-good sons, Maximilian and ... See full summary »

Director:

Frank Tashlin

Writer:

Frank Tashlin

Stars:

Jerry Lewis, Ed Wynn, Judith Anderson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview:
Jerry Lewis	...	Cinderfella
Ed Wynn	...	Fairy Godfather
Judith Anderson	...	Wicked Stepmother
Henry Silva	...	Maximilian
Robert Hutton	...	Rupert
Count Basie	...	Himself
Joe Williams	...	Himself - band vocalist
Anna Maria Alberghetti	...	Princess Charming

Storyline

This was Jerry Lewis' answer to the classic Cinderella story. When his father dies, poor Fella is left at the mercy of his snobbish stepmother and her two no-good sons, Maximilian and Rupert. As he slaves away for his nasty step-family, Maximilian and Rupert attempt to find a treasure Fella's father has supposedly hidden on the estate. Meanwhile, hoping to restore her dwindling fortunes, the stepmother plans a fancy ball in honor of the visiting Princess Charmein whom she hopes will marry Rupert. Eventually, Fella's Fairy Godfather shows up to convince him that he has a shot at winning the Princess himself.

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Plot Keywords:

princess | cinderella story | fairy godmother | father son relationship | spoof | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aschenblödel

Filming Locations:

750 Bel Air Road, Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jerry Lewis Productions, Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jerry Lewis' musical entrance down the grand staircase was done in one take, a Lewis trademark. But his seven-second rush up the same 63 steps put too much of a strain on his heart and landed him in the hospital.

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Goofs

Cinderfella spills salt into his soup and then tries to scoop the salt out of the soup with the salt shaker. Moments later, the salt shaker is full of dry salt again.

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Quotes

Cinderfella: [Fella reading from the engraving on a ring] To Fella: Love thy neighbor. Love him hard and well. The love that you give will be returned and manifested in itself, to give back the warmth and the care and the affection, as well as the hugs and the loves of those who have loved. To live and not to love could be affectionate, but yet warmth would still maintain itself in the love that you give to them. Oh, others have loved in the past and yet have found that they couldn't be hate. So with love it...

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Connections

Version of CBS Storybreak: Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China (1985)

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Soundtracks

"The Princess Waltz (Once Upon A Time)"
Music by Harry Warren and Walter Scharf
Lyrics by Jack Brooks
Sung by Jerry Lewis

User Reviews

Cinderfella **1/2

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.