If you need me to tell you the plot of Cinderella, then we're operating at two very different levels. Instead, let us consider the technical wizardry of this immense two-reel version of the story from 1907. While I am not sure why the Fairy Godmother climbs out of the salt box on her first appearance, but later simply zips into and out of view using the basic movie magic of stopping the camera, having the actress walk onto the stage, then starting the camera again. I will call to your attention one beautiful effect; as Louise Lagrange (playing Cinderella in her movie premiere. Her film career would stretch into 1951) sits despairing in the kitchen after the ball, Fairy Godmother makes the fireplace fall down and an inset vision of the palace appears. Very nicely done for1907, in an era when it all had to be done by hand and in the camera!
It's that kitchen that causes me to wonder why Pathe so obviously painted their sets instead of decorating them? Was it cheaper to do so, and store the flats until they might be needed again? Or was it, as I suspect, that the film-makers thought the distinction between the artificial world of the kitchen and the ball, which takes place outside, would indicate two separate worlds? The fact that the kitchen scenes are in straight black & white, while the outdoor scenes and the final sequence are color-stenciled supports that theory.
Or was the use of flats, such as one might find in a stage show, simply considered classier?
