Main Cast: Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven, Annette Crosbie, Edith Evans, Christopher Gable
Release Year: 1976
Country: UK
Run Time: 146 minutes
Plot
Filmed in Austria, this British-made musical retells the story of Cinderella as it is found in books of fairy tales. The Prince, Edward, is played by Richard Chamberlain, Cinderella by Gemma Craven. In her role as the Prince's witty mother, Dame Edith Evans provides many of the movie's highlights. The musical score and songs written by Richard Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who also provided the music to the movie Mary Poppins, were nominated for Academy Awards. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
The Slipper and the Rose is a delightful variation on the "Cinderella" theme, making a number of changes in the familiar story that make it seem fresh. Chief among these is a greater emphasis upon the Prince, who in this version is actually the main character of the story, and a re-setting of the tale in an era of powdered wigs and knee breeches. The latter allows the creative team to provide some delicious costumes and show them off in a sumptuous setting. The former change allows Richard Chamberlain to demonstrate his natural ease with the musical form. Charming and totally at-home with both the singing and dancing duties demanded of him, Chamberlain engages the viewer from the first and holds court over the entire film. As the heroine, Gemma Craven is sweet-voiced and sincere; she has a winsomeness and innocence that are immensely appealing without becoming cloying. Annette Crosbie is both dotty and down-to-earth as the Fairy Godmother, and Margaret Lockwood leavens the Stepmother with an amusing dose of vanity. Slipper is not without its faults; it goes on a bit too long and the slipper search is anti-climactic. In addition, the Sherman Brothers score is at times too reminiscent of other scores (both their own and those of others), and director Bryan Forbes overuses the soft focus lens. But all in all, Slipper is a pleasant and engaging visit. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Michael Hordern - King; Margaret Lockwood - Stepmother; Kenneth More - Chamberlain; Julian Orchard - Montague; Lally Bowers - Queen; Sherrie Hewson - Palatine; John Turner - Major Domo; Keith Skinner - Willoughby; Polly Williams - Lady Caroline; Norman Bird - Dress Shop Proprietor; Ray Barraclough - Tailor; Peter Graves - General; Geoffrey Bayldon - Archbishop; Tim Barrett - Minister; Andre Morell - Bride's Father; Myrtle Reed - Bride's Mother; Tessa Dahl - Princess; Eva Reuber-Staier - Princess; Patrick Jordan - Prince's Guard; Rocky Taylor - Prince's Guard; Rosalind Ayres - Isabella; Valentine Dyall - Second Major Domo; Gerald Sim - First Lord of the Navy; Bryan Forbes - Herald
Credit
Bert Davey - Art Director, Marc Breaux - Choreography, Angela Morely - Conductor, Julie Harris - Costume Designer, Jack Causey - First Assistant Director, Bryan Forbes - Director, Timothy Gee - Editor, David Frost - Executive Producer, Richard M. Sherman - Composer (Music Score), Robert B. Sherman - Composer (Music Score), Angela Morely - Composer (Music Score), Angela Morley - Musical Arrangement, Angela Morley - Musical Direction/Supervision, Ray Simm - Production Designer, Tony Imi - Cinematographer, Stuart Lyons - Producer, Vic Armstrong - Stunts Coordinator, Bryan Forbes - Screenwriter, Richard M. Sherman - Screenwriter, Robert B. Sherman - Screenwriter, Naim Attallah - Production Coordinator, John Asprey - Production Coordinator, Richard M. Sherman - Lyricist, Robert B. Sherman - Lyricist
Robert Arditti — Adrian Barnes — Wendy Barry — Tony Bateman — Nicky Benton — Michael Buchanan — Reg Bundy
Susan Claire — Ina Clare — Rosalind Cole — Michael Coleman — Lesley Collier
Michael Darbyshire — Anna Delaney — Bill Drysdale — Stanley Fleet — Neil Fitzwilliam — Joyce Graham
Johnny Heawood — Deanne Horsham — Sheila Humphries — Jerry (?) Hunt — Janie Kells — Lorna Kelner
Jimmy Land, Maurice Lane — William Lawford — Adrian Lepeltier — Susan Lockwood — Vince Logan
Connel Miles — Thorey Mountain — Connie Paull — Terry Rendle
Stuart Saunders — David Shelmordine — Petra Siniwski — Wayne Sleep — Arthur Sweet — Jessica Swift
Hilary Tickner — Jacquie Toye — Domini Winter
Plot
In the tiny kingdom of Euphrania, a disgruntled prince is pressured to seek a political marriage for the sake of his nation. Instead he falls for put-upon waif Cinderella, whose fairy godmother has given her one magical chance to attend the royal bride-finding ball. Understandably, this causes complications in a plot that lends a new twist to the familiar tale.
At the March 24, 1976Royal Command Performance of the The Slipper and the Rose the Queen Mother commented to the songwriters, "The waltz you wrote for the ballroom scene is the most beautiful song I've ever heard."[1]
Criticism
Writing in The New York Times, critic Vincent Canby called the film "harmless", adding that the writers "stretched the fable without mercy, largely to accommodate a whole bunch of forgettable songs by the Shermans", and that, as the Prince and Cinderella, "Mr. Chamberlain and Miss Craven have impossible roles that are less like characters in a fairy tale than pictures on a jar of peanut butter."[2]
Jim Reston: "What, the night before we start taping? What premiere?"
Bob Zelnick: "The Slipper and the Rose"
Jim Reston: "The Cinderella movie?"
Bob Zelnick: "He's the executive producer."
Jim Reston: "What the one with Richard Chamberlain singing, 'ding diddy ding ding'?"
There is also a stage production that has been run on the British stage. It made its US premiere in February, 2004 at the Hale Center Theater in Salt Lake City, Utah. A production was also put on in Nov.-Dec. 2008 at the Tacoma Musical Playhouse.
References
^Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond by Robert B. Sherman, Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998, pg. 190
