Movie Mondays...Mad About Alice Movies!

Maybe it was the billowy blue dress and white apron. Or the golden hair...or her wonderment...whatever the reason; when I saw her on film I just knew that I liked her!!! More so than any Fairy tale Princess, Alice seemed more human. Little did I know watching Alice movies and reading the Alice books that Alice was inspired by a real little girl. When I was in the third grade I happened upon Alice's Adventure's Underground, and on the last page Lewis Carroll pasted a photo he took of the child that inspired him to write about a crazy place called "Wonderland." From then on I was hooked...or rather obsessed with Alice, Lewis Carroll and Wonderland.

I've seen so many different versions of Alice movies. From live action to cartoons that to me, the only one to come close to Lewis Carroll's story (aka Charles L. Dodgson) is the 1966 British tv version that I saw when I was a kid out in California. If I remember correctly, I saw it on the tv program the Family Film Festival back in the 1980's. In this version, a wild-haired Alice (Anne-Marie Mallika), follows the White Rabbit into Wonderland. What sets this film apart from the others is that Carroll's political humor, and social commentary of the time is used more to point out the whole class system of the Victorian era - for instance, the Queen and King of Hearts look a lot like Queen Victoria and her Consort Prince Albert, knowing that politics as usual were pretty cut-throat at the time. Whatever the reason, this surrealistic look into Wonderland is a must-see if you can find a copy
on dvd.

Another rare version of a Alice film is the first one that was made in 1904. The film last only minutes, but from what I understand, is pretty faithful to the story to.

My favorite Alice motion picture is the one that Paramount filmed with the whos-who of Hollywood...everyone was going through "Alice Mania" in the 1930's, because of the centennial of Lewis Carroll's birth and the real Alice, or rather Alice Liddell-Hargreaves, coming to America to receive an honorary degree from Columbia University. Paramount seizing an opportunity, had a big casting call for the perfect Alice, and they chose an unknown. Charlotte Henry was chosen to wear the iconic billowy blue dress, while convorting through Wonderland with such well known stars as Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle; WC Fields as Humpy Dumpty; and Gary Cooper as the White Knight. With all these stars, Paramount thought they had a blockbuster! They were wrong. It flopped at the boxoffice. In spite all of this, I was charmed by Charlotte Henry's portrayal of Alice...very sweet and innocent among the crazy
inhabitants of Wonderland!

Another appealing Alice was Walt Disney's cartoon Alice. This Alice was beautifully voiced by Kathryn Beaumont. When she tearfully sings, "Very Good Advice," about wanting to go home it makes me sad! A few years back I bought a copy of the "Deluxe" DVD with 2 disks. One disk had a Christmas promo from the old Disneyland tv show with Kathryn dressed as Alice being interviewed by Mr. Disney. She seemed really sweet and adorable in that interview! Like the Paramount Alice almost 20 years earlier, Disney's Alice was considered a flop...it was until the late 60's when Disney's Alice was in vogue because of Mary Blair's art direction...the vibrant use of color and the way the characters were drawn, it was considered a trippy "head" film.

I will continue Alice Week on Wednesday. Next up: The story of the "real" Alice and how she inspired a shy Oxford Don to write the Alice books!

(Aspects of Alice ~ In order of photos: May Clark in the first Alice film - 1904; Charlotte Henry in the all star Paramount Alice film - 1933; Charlotte Henry again from the 1933 version; Kathryn Beaumont and her cartoon counterpart from Disney's Technicolored Alice film - 1951; A poster from the Disney version (copyright Walt Disney Studios); Anne-Marie Mallik in the 1966 British tv play of Alice in Wonderland.

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