The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Bryan Forbes

Writers:

Charles Perrault (story)
Bryan Forbes (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 April 1976 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

You'll forget every other love story you ever saw . . . or sang to.

Plot:

In the tiny kingdom of Euphrania, the King and his court are most anxious to get Prince Edward wed. But Edward wants to marry for love...

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Cinderella | Royalty | Historical | Fairy Godmother

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 win & 8 nominations

Cast

Sherrie Hewson	...	Palatine
John Turner	...	Major-Domo
Rosalind Ayres	...	Isobella
Keith Skinner	...	Willoughby
Polly Williams	...	Lady Caroline
Christopher Gable	...	John
Margaret Lockwood	...	Stepmother
Julian Orchard	...	Montague
Annette Crosbie	...	Fairy Godmother
Edith Evans	...	Dowager Queen
Kenneth More	...	Chamberlain
Lally Bowers	...	Queen
Michael Hordern	...	King
Gemma Craven	...	Cinderella
Richard Chamberlain	...	Prince

Also Known As:

The Slipper and the Rose (UK) (short title)

Runtime:

146 min | USA:127 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo | Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Anif Castle, Anif, Salzburg, Austria

Company:

Paradine Co-Productions

Trivia:

Margaret Lockwood's last film.

Quotes:

[Edward has just saved Cinderella from her miserable life]
Cinderella: And in my happiness, I forgive you all!
[Edward and Cinderella exit]
Stepmother: Forgive me? How *dare* she forgive me?

Soundtrack:

He Danced With Me/She Danced With Me

The best version of Cinderella there is!

The Slipper and The Rose is a beautiful version of the Cinderella story with picturesque scenery, excellent design and costume and lots of 70's soft-focus romantic-type shooting.

This isn't a run-of-the-mill Cinderella story. You actually get some depth of character motivation. The characters are generally extremely believable - the "wicked" stepmother not being hideous enough for one to question why anyone would marry her and the "ugly" sisters, both slim and quite pretty, but instead ugly from the inside.

This film is brilliantly cast with some of the finest British actors/comedy actors of all time (Kenneth More, Annette Crosbie to name two!). Richard Chamberlain acts, dances, sings! Gemma Craven is radiant. She has a beautiful voice and does a great job with a very passive character. Let's face it, in the traditional story of Cinderella (as this is), she doesn't really make any decisions except that she might quite like to go to the ball.

It's just great to see people cast on ability, not solely looks/cleavage/plastic surgery, (although I suppose the features all fit a certain time-period of what was considered beautiful.)

The script is very witty and intelligent and I love the songs.. Fantastic music. Lyrics aren't dumbed down at all! Words of more than one syllable. What other musical has a song with the title "Protocoligorically Correct" in it? None, I should imagine!

Incidentally, I believe Sherman & Sherman who did the songs/music also did Mary Poppins (i.e. supercalifragilisticexpialadocious). Perhaps they just like long words.

This is believable escapism, and apart from the odd haircut here and there and occasional choreography, doesn't really date.

I love it. It's magical. A great family film.