Cinderfella is a comedy version of the classic Cinderella story, with several of the roles reversed. It was released December 16, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and stars Jerry Lewis as Fella.
Plot
When Fella's (Jerry Lewis) father dies, he continues to live with his wicked stepmother, Emily (Judith Anderson) and her two sons, Maximilian (Henry Silva) and Rupert (Robert Hutton). His stepfamily takes over the family mansion, while Fella is reduced to living in an unfinished room at the end of a long hallway. He has in essence become their butler, catering to their every whim.
Fella dreams nightly that his father is trying to relay a message to him about where he has hidden his fortune, but he always awakens before he learns the hiding place. His stepfamily knows of this secret fortune and they go to great lengths to try to discover its whereabouts. They pretend to befriend him in order to wrangle his fortune away once it is found.
Princess Charmine of the Grand Duchy of Morovia (Anna Maria Alberghetti) is in town and the stepmother decides to throw her a lavish ball in order to get her to marry one of her sons. Fella isn't allowed to go to the ball, but his fairy godfather (Ed Wynn) tells him that he won't remain a "people" much longer, but will blossom into a "person".
On the evening of the ball, Fella is turned into a handsome prince and sent to the ball in a limousine. Count Basie is playing at the ball when Fella makes his grand entrance. The young man quickly gains the attention of the Princess. The night is cut short when midnight strikes and Fella flees, losing his shoe along the way.
Back home, one of Fella's stepbrothers realizes that Fella is the supposed "prince." They wind up in a struggle under a tree, in the process discovering that that is where Fella's father's fortune is hidden. Fella gives the money to his stepfamily, telling them that he never needed money to be happy, he only wanted a family. Shamed, his stepmother orders her sons to return the money to Fella.
The Princess arrives with Fella's lost shoe, but Fella explains that they could never be together because she is a "person" and he is a "people". She tells him that underneath the fancy clothes she is a "people" too.
Production
Cinderfella was filmed from October 19 through December 15, 1959.
In the Ball scene where Lewis arrives, one take was shot with Jerry Lewis going down the stairs and one take going up. He ran the stairs in 7 seconds and collapsed at the top, whence he was taken to hospital and ended up in an oxygen tent for 4 days. This delayed filming for 2 weeks.
Release
Paramount wanted to release the film during the summer, but Lewis considered it a holiday film and wanted to hold it back for a Christmas release. The only way that the studio would delay its release was for Lewis to provide them with another movie that they could release in its place in the summer. Lewis agreed and wrote, produced, and directed The Bellboy in four weeks in February 1960 while he was performing at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami Beach. That movie was released on July 20, 1960.
In 1967, the film was re-released on a double bill with another Jerry Lewis film, The Errand Boy.
Soundtrack
A soundtrack for the film was released by DOT Records (DLP 38001).
Track listing
1. OVERTURE (Arranged and Conducted by Walter Scharf)
2. LET ME BE A PEOPLE (Jerry Lewis)
3. TICKA-DEE (Jerry Lewis)
4. I'M PART OF A FAMILY (Jerry Lewis)
5. TURN IT ON (Jerry Lewis & Choir)
6. WE'RE GOING TO THE BALL (Salli Terri, Bill Lee & Max Smith)
7. SOMEBODY (Jerry Lewis)
8. THE PRINCESS WALTZ (Jerry Lewis, Loulie Jean Norman & Choir)
9. TURN IT ON (Jerry Lewis, Del Moore & Choir)
DVD release
External links
