Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Cary Grant, W.C. Fields and Gary Cooper are only some of the stars – and you won’t recognize any of them
Tags: Alice in Wonderland (2010) Categories: DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Mar 6th, 2010
Taking elements from both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the 1933 version of Alice in Wonderland is a bit of a confusing mess that must have absolutely delighted audiences when it first debuted. Noted comedy director Norman McLeod was behind the camera for this adaptation that seems to have attempted to mash together the two books, and works for the most part on its own, but not as any sort of direct translation.
Starting off with a looking glass and chess pieces, the story moves to the catterpiller, Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, then moves on to Tweedle Dee and Teweedle Dum, Humpty Dumpty, The White Knight, and more. The costumes are elaborate with most of the actors unrecognizable behind animal masks. Cary Grant gives a decent vocal performance and the Mock Tortoise, but only vocally because he is completely hidden from view. W.C. Fields also takes the role of Humpty Dumpty and makes it completely his own.
Much of the dialogue is taken from the books, but altered to fit this mishmash of an adaptation. Through elaborate (for the time) staging and costuming, along with the absurd dialogue, this 1933 version of Alice in Wonderland is quite humorous, retaining much of the jocularity of Lewis Carroll.
As a “classic” film, Alice in Wonderland is worth checking out, but does fall short as an adaptation of the literary work because of its “mish-mash” nature. It’s a fun take on the books, but shouldn’t be the way to introduce them to an audience.
There are no special features on this DVD, which is a disappointment. What we have is 77 minutes, which is shorter than its original run time. Missing is an explanation of what was cut and why (though it’s obvious that the poem of The Walrus and the Carpenter [an animated section in the middle of the film] was trimmed) as well as simply having the whole of the original film restored. No audio commentary, no interviews, nothing. This DVD was obviously released to make a quick buck riding the popularity of the current theatrical release of Tim Burton’s new film.
Fans of the story or classic films may want to check this out, but it shouldn’t be anybody’s first choice.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
| + Great production | 5.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Great stars, but you won't recognize them - No special features for context - Plot elements and characters are all mixed up from both books - Only the edited version of the film |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| A worthy entry in the pantheon of film adaptations, but this shouldn't be the first one to seek out. | |
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Tags: Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Mar 6th, 2010 and is filed under DVD/TV Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
