Themes: Filmmaking, Actor's Life, Ladder to the Top
Main Cast: Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, Vera Lewis, Doria Baker, Emily Gerdes
Release Year: 1926
Country: US
Run Time: 60 minutes
Plot
Silent film star Colleen Moore and Charlie Plumb's comic strip character Ella Cinders had two basic things in common: their dutch-bob haircuts and their winsome, wide-eyed charm. As played by Ms. Moore, Ella is a moviestruck small-town girl who wins a talent contest purportedly sponsored by a film studio. First prize is a trip to Hollywood and a screen test, but when Ella arrives in Tinseltown, she discovers that the contest was a fraud. Momentarily disheartened, Ella vows to get into pictures by any means possible. Finally wangling a screen test, Ella convinces producers that she is a great dramatic actress by reacting in terror to a fire that has accidentally broken out on the set. She realizes her dream of becoming a star--at least until her hometown boyfriend Lloyd Hughes offers a "lifetime contract" of his own. A thoroughly delightful minor effort, Ella Cinders displays Colleen Moore at her peak, notably in one sequence in which she imitates her contemporary Lillian Gish; there's even time left over for a brief cameo from comedy great Harry Langdon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
E.J. Shutter - Art Director, Alfred E. Green - Director, Robert J. Kern - Editor, E.J. Shulter - Production Designer, Arthur Martineli - Cinematographer, John McCormick - Producer, George Marion, Jr. - Intertitle Writer, Mervyn LeRoy - Screenwriter, Frank Griffin - Screenwriter
