The Slipper and the Rose **** (1976, Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven, Margaret Lockwood, Annette Crosbie, Michael Hordern, Kenneth More, Edith Evans, Christopher Gable) – Classic Movie Review 2426

Director Bryan Forbes’s enchanting 1976 British musical film retelling the classic fairy tale of Cinderella with songs and dancing is a real charmer. For that, much thanks to Gemma Craven’s captivating Cinders and Richard Chamberlain’s handsome, charming Prince Edward of Euphrania, as well as the very decent and appealing Oscar nominated songs from the Sherman Brothers, Robert B Sherman and Richard M Sherman.

There is also Forbes’s lively screenplay and nimble direction to impress. And there are several other outstanding performances, especially Annette Crosbie’s amusingly harassed Fairy Godmother and the lovely turns from golden oldie actors Margaret Lockwood (in her final film as Stepmother), Kenneth More (Lord Chamberlain) and Edith Evans (Dowager Queen).

Lesley Collier and Wayne Sleep are among the dancers. The choreography is by Marc Breaux, who worked on Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. He died at 89 on November 19 2013.

Also in the cast are Michael Hordern (King), Christopher Gable (John), Julian Orchard (Montague), Lally Bowers (Queen), John Turner, Polly Williams, Keith Skinner, Rosalind Ayres, Sherrie Hewson, Norman Bird, Roy Barraclough, Elizabeth Mansfield, Peter Graves, Gerald Sim, Geoffrey Bayldon, Valentine Dyall, Tim Barrett, Vivienne McKee and André Morrell.

The running time is 146 minutes and the US release cut version runs 127 minutes when  the songs ‘What Has Love Got to Do with Being Married’ and ‘I Can’t Forget the Melody’ were cut. The Sherman Brothers collaborated with Forbes on the screenplay, along with, reportedly, the film’s executive producer David Frost. The Fairy Godmother’s pet is Forbes’s own dog, Fred. The film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance film selection for 1976.

It features in the film Frost/Nixon (2008) as the movie whose premiere the producer David Frost is attending while his problems with the Nixon interviews are escalating.

More than 800 girls were considered as Cinderella, and 150 were interviewed before Craven was picked. More than 300 costumes were made for the film.

Adapting the film, the 1984 theatre musical production has run often on the British stage.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2426

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