Alice in Wonderland (1933)

In Victorian England a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland populated by even more fantastic characters.

Director:

Norman Z. McLeod (as Norman Mc Leod)

Writers:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (screen play), William Cameron Menzies (screen play)

Stars:

Richard Arlen, Roscoe Ates, William Austin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Arlen	...	Cheshire Cat
Roscoe Ates	...	Fish
William Austin	...	Gryphon
Gary Cooper	...	White Knight
Leon Errol	...	Uncle Gilbert
Louise Fazenda	...	White Queen
W.C. Fields	...	Humpty-Dumpty
Alec B. Francis	...	King of Hearts
Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher	...	Rabbit (as Skeets Gallagher)
Cary Grant	...	Mock Turtle
Lillian Harmer	...	Cook
Raymond Hatton	...	Mouse
Charlotte Henry	...	Alice
Sterling Holloway	...	Frog
Edward Everett Horton	...	Mad Hatter

Storyline

On a boring winter afternoon, Alice dreams, that she's visiting the land behind the mirror. This turns out to be a surrealistic nightmare, with all sorts of strange things happening to her, like changing her size or playing croquet with flamingos.

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Plot Keywords:

wonderland | alice character | cheshire cat | white queen character | red queen character | 

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Taglines:

The Entertainment Miracle Of All Times!

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

British child thespian Pearl Hay auditioned for the title role.

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Goofs

William Shakespeare's birth and death dates are given as 1585-1616. That would make him 31 when he died. Actually, although he did die in 1616 at the age of 52, he was born in 1564.

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Quotes

Alice: I've often seen a cat without a grin - but a grin without a cat!

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Crazy Credits

The opening cast credits are in order of appearance, with stills of credited actors shown twice: first in full costume and mask with the character name identified, and followed by a studio photo of each with their actor name identified. The end credits are in alphabetical order and presented normally with a character name and actor name on each line.

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Alternate Versions

The film was previewed at 90 minutes and featured scenes with Julie Bishop as Alice's sister, Harvey Clark as Father William, and Lucien Littlefield as Father William's son. These scenes were deleted and the general release version runs 75 minutes.

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Connections

Version of Alice (1988)

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Soundtracks

Walk a Little Faster
(uncredited)
Music by Dave Franklin
Words by Lewis Carroll

User Reviews

All Star Alice

One of the most unusual projects ever undertaken by a studio was done by Paramount in 1933. Casting young Charlotte Henry in the title role of Lewis Carroll's beloved fantasy, Paramount then cast over 25 of their best known faces, apparently whoever was not working on another film at the moment, as the fantasy creatures she meets on her journey.

Today, these same people would just be called on to lend their voices for animation. In fact in the middle, there is an animated version of The Walrus and the Carpenter, showcased for Henry by Jack Oakie and Roscoe Karns as Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Walt Disney later took that easier route in the Fifties with his animated version. But these stars are mostly unrecognizable beneath all that makeup.

Yet the voices of such people as Ned Sparks, W.C. Fields, Gary Cooper, and Cary Grant are unmistakable. People like Edna May Oliver, May Robson, and Edward Everett Horton can be recognized. Quite frankly it was a stroke of genius to cast Horton as The Mad Hatter. It's a tossup between Horton and Ed Wynn in the Disney version as to who was the zanier.

Horton is probably my favorite from the film, but running a close second is Cary Grant, hidden underneath all that Mock Turtle makeup. This was at the beginning of his career when he was not an icon as of yet. Probably even five years later Paramount might have had trouble casting him that way. His Mock Turtle song and Mock Turtle crying are something to see and hear.

Paramount almost closed down during the early Thirties because of the Depression. Alice In Wonderland lost money badly at the box office and got tepid reviews. Seen today it's not as bad as all that and really kind of interesting in a way.