The Slipper And The Rose: The Story Of Cinderella is a 1976 British musical film starring Gemma Craven as Cinderella, Richard Chamberlain as Prince Edward, Michael Hordern as the King, Margaret Lockwood as the Stepmother, Annette Crosbie as the Fairy Godmother, and Edith Evans as the Dowager Queen. The film was produced by Stuart Lyons and David Frost, directed by Bryan Forbes, with music written by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Bryan Forbes.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
The film is a reimagining of the classic fairy tale story of Cinderella. This version goes beyond the classic ending of the story. In this version, Cinderella actually meets her Fairy Godmother long before the night of the ball. This time, the reason for Cinderella having to leave before midnight is because the Fairy Godmother didn't have enough magic to pull it off, so she had to borrow it from elsewhere. After Prince Edward finds Cinderella, she is sent into exile due to the Prince needing to marry a woman from another kingdom in order to prevent war. Naturally, this is eventually overridden and we get our classic happy ending.
END OF SPOILERS!
I watched The Slipper And The Rose for the first time in many years today after having FINALLY found an online download of the widescreen 143-minute version from the now rare OOP Image Entertainment DVD. Previously, I'd only seen the movie in a shoddy pan-and-scan 127 minute version I taped many years ago off the Disney Channel. (You know, back when they weren't The High School Musical And Hannah Montana Network.) Even then I thought the film was beautiful and well-made, but now that I've finally seen the full Panavision image and all 143 minutes, I can actually say this is, in my opinion, one of THE finest film adaptations of Cinderella. While it is a long film and can be slow at times, the film is bursting with great musical numbers and gorgeous costumes. And yes, you get to hear Richard Chamberlain sing. Gemma Craven is the real surprise of the film. Not only is she beautiful and has a wonderful voice, she gives one of the better performances of the character. Face it, most people CAN'T be subtle with the role. The nature of the story makes it difficult to show any subtlety with the character, so instead you're often bludgeoned to death with the whole "ZOMG I CAN'T BELIEVE IT OMG OMG!" thing. Gemma has subtlety, but when it's appropriate, she can also be very excited or very emotional.
The music in this film is quite enjoyable and I'd place it on par with the songs from Disney's and Rodgers and Hammerstein's interpretations. The Sherman Brothers, who have a knack for making up nice big words for songs from their musicals, have done it again - "Protocologorically Correct." True, it doesn't have the ring of "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" or "fantasmagorical" from the title track of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but it's one of the more fun songs in the film. And naturally, the Fairy Godmother must have her song - "Suddenly It Happens." The big love song here SURPRISE SURPRISE is covered in a light coating of syrup. This is a compliment when you consider most love songs from Cinderella films make you half-expect the set to start filling up with gallons upon gallons of high fructose corn syrup until everyone is drowning in the sticky sugary mess of the whole thing. "Secret Kingdom" is sweet, but it won't give you a toothache. But perhaps the best song, if you ask me, is "Tell Him Anything (But Not That I Love Him)" which occurs during one of the twists this film takes upon the classic story.
The Slipper And The Rose was released to DVD (The first ever US home video release except for a 1980's laserdisc.) in 2000 by Image Entertainment. For the first time in the US, fans could see the full 143-minute long British release and see the ENTIRE Panavision image. The DVD also contained bonus materials such as a making-of and director commentary. This is the version I downloaded from a torrent and have been scouring the internet for about two years to find. Sadly, this DVD is out of print now. A new DVD has been released, but it contains no bonus materials and is the pan-and-scan 127-minute American version. The Image Entertainment DVD is definitely worth tracking down just for the beautiful widescreen extended version, but even the fullscreen 127-minute version is worth a look at. I give the film 9 out of 10 stars.