Released: 1976
Director: Bryan Forbes
Starring: Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven
Short Summary: A musical version of Cinderella that explores a few new elements of the story.
Why It's A Must See Movie
Today I'm going to chat about my favorite movie ever! Yay! My mom is awesome and got me The Slipper and The Rose on Blue-ray. I am over the moon excited to own it in that format. I'm fully aware that musicals may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if they are something you like I think you will love The Slipper and The Rose as much as I do.
One element of the film that I enjoy is that it takes a story line that has been done in film and musical form many times, and approaches it in a different way. This film explores more angles of the characters in the Cinderella fairy tale. It doesn't just focus on the thoughts and feelings of Cinderella. It contains equal focus on the thoughts and feelings of the prince. This is surprisingly not something that is done very often with the Cinderella tale. It also in moments asks what the Fairy Godmother thinks of the whole ordeal. Which can be quite amusing. In fact all the supporting characters have quite a witty sense of humor. It's always nice to have a laugh.
I think it's great that the film makers thought about the serious parts of the story as well. There is the certain political element to the movie. They explore the fact that there are many pressures involved in running a country. The prince really should marry a princess to form a political alliance, and people in the court probably wouldn't take very kindly to him wanting to marry a peasant girl. The film brings out all sorts of new layers to Cinderella.
I of course love the songs featured in this musical. I love how the composers of the songs, Richard Sherman and Robert Sherman, manipulate words and music. The songs use interesting words and cadences. It keeps the songs interesting. Which is good because there are quite a lot of songs in the movie. Probably more than most movie musicals that aren't light operas. Amazingly all of them are perfectly placed in the film. You know the songs in a musical are well placed when you can't imagine the story with out any one of the songs in it. The Slipper and The Rose was definitely successful in that respect. I'm pretty sure that all or at least most of the excellent and actresses cast in the film sang their own songs. Many of the older movie musicals don't always have the actors singing their own parts. So it's great that they do in this.
I've discovered lately that I am a sucker for beautiful camera shot composition. I mean who isn't? This movie has wonderful composition. It has wonderful cinematography, adorable dance choreography, amazing costumes, and great sets and locations. It like candy to my eyes. I also love how the movie uses editing and visuals to show the passage of time. I think it's important in a fairy tale film to show the passage of time so the viewer doesn't feel like it all happened in the span of a week. That would be very unrealistic. Well fairy tales are kind of unrealistic by nature, but they don't have to be totally unrealistic. Right?
So if you like musicals check The Slipper and The Rose out. It is my happy movie. When ever I feel down I watch it and I feel better. They is probably why it is my favorite film. If you can watch it on Blue-ray. Good grief it looks good!
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