Alice in Wonderland (1903)

Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors. A key opens a small door... See full summary »

Directors:

Cecil M. Hepworth, Percy Stow

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (novel), Cecil M. Hepworth

Stars:

May Clark, Cecil M. Hepworth, Blair

Cast

Credited cast:
May Clark	...	Alice
Cecil M. Hepworth	...	Frog
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Blair	...	Large dog
Geoffrey Faithfull	...	Card
Stanley Faithfull	...	Card
Mrs. Hepworth	...	White Rabbit / Queen
Norman Whitten	...	Fish / Mad Hatter

Storyline

Alice dozes in a garden, awakened by a dithering white rabbit in waistcoat with pocket watch. She follows him down a hole and finds herself in a hall of many doors. A key opens a small door: eventually, she's through into a garden where a dog awaits. Later, in the rabbit's home, her size is again a problem. She tries to help a nanny with a howling baby, then a Cheshire cat directs her to a tea party where the Mad Hatter and March Hare dunk a dormouse. Expelled from the party, Alice happens on a royal processional: all the cards in the deck precede the Queen of Hearts, who welcomes then turns on Alice and calls on the royal executioner. Alice must run for her life.

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Plot Keywords:

death sentence | miniaturization | garden | rabbit | key | 

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Genres:

Fantasy | Short

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Details

Country:

UK

Release Date:

17 October 1903 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alice im Wunderland

Filming Locations:

Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hepworth

Technical Specs

Runtime:

8 min 10 min (2010 restored)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first film adaptation of the book.

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Connections

Referenced in Epic Ink: Welcome to Area 51 (2014)

User Reviews

A fascinating piece of early film lovingly restored by the BFI...

British film pioneer Cecil M. Hepworth ("Rescued by Rover" & "The Egg-Laying Man") teamed-up with fellow film pioneer Percy Stow for the first big screen adaptation of the classic children's book by Lewis Carroll which has since been innumerably remade.

Alice (May Clark) follows the White Rabbit down the rabbit-hole to Wonderland where she shrinks and grows, gets directed to the Mad Hatter's Tea-Party by the Duchess's Cheshire Cat and disrupts the Royal Procession in a series of entertaining early effects.

Production secretary May Clark never entirely seems at ease in the role and is outclassed by the professionalism of co-stars Cecil M. Hepworth, Mrs. Hepworth, their cat and first British film star Blair the dog ("Rescued by Rover").

The film-makers have done a surprisingly successful job of brining the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel to life with some truly pioneering effects and although much was lost when the original reels were melted down by the receivers there is still plenty to enjoy.

"Until she remembers the magic fan."