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Rating:  -
This was a good dvd if you really wanted to see the Julie Andrews production. Not so great if you wanted high quality viewing as this is a old taping and the technology wasnt invented yet. SO its kinda shadowy sometimes and dark and not high quality production values. It fit my purposes fine as I was researching different productions of Cinderella.
Rating:  -
Being an R & H movie I knew that it would be good, but having never seen it I wish I would have rented it first. The lines were odd. Julie Andrews voice though does make up for it. Glad that I have it, completes the colection of all the Cindrellas made.
Rating:  -
It was estimated that 107 million people saw the original broadcast of this made-for-television musical created by no less than the legendary team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. That represents an astonishing 62% of the U.S. population at a time when there was no pay-per-view, no cable, no TiVo. Having just read Julie Andrews' remarkable early-life autobiography, Home: A Memoir of My Early Years, I have to admit my interest was piqued to see this seminal production. Andrews was all of 21 on the night of March 31, 1957, when she performed the title role live, and it's fascinating to watch her screen persona so fully formed seven years before her big-screen debut in Mary Poppins. Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote the musical specifically for her talents as she was then wowing Broadway audiences as Eliza Doolittle in the smash hit, Lerner and Lowe's My Fair Lady. The evidence refutes Jack Warner's later claim that she was not photogenic enough to be in the film version, and the 2004 DVD is the closest many of us will get to see what her Eliza was like.
Captured in black-and-white kinescope, the show is definitely a product of the Golden Age of Television with its flickering images and claustrophobic, sometimes awkward staging. However, as directed by Ralph Nelson (Father Goose), the story's universal charm and farcical touches, the expert cast of mainly Broadway veterans, and the memorable musical score more than offset the technical deficiencies. Andrews' bell-like soprano is at its best in her sadly hopeful ballad, "In My Own Little Corner". As the King and Queen, playwright Howard Lindsay (he co-wrote Life with Father and the original book for The Sound of Music) and his real-life actress wife Dorothy Stickney prove to be a comically adroit pair. Fellow stage legend Ilka Chase plays the malevolent stepmother with catty aplomb, and the comic duo of Kaye Ballard and Alice Ghostley fulfill the comic possibilities as the jealous stepsisters. Edie Adams lends a more saucy twist to the ethereal role of the Fairy Godmother. Much later a reliable character actor best known as the Chief of Police on Hill Street Blues, a stalwart Jon Cypher fits the cardboard dimensions of the gallant, smitten Prince and showcases a surprisingly robust tenor voice first in a soaring duet with Andrews on "Ten Minutes Ago" and then on the show's best song, "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?".
Like most of my generation, I am more familiar with the 1965 color remake (starring a very young, squeaky-voiced Lesley Ann Warren) since the original production aired only once. Running a fleet 77 minutes, it's a shame that the original color footage could not have been saved since the fairy tale atmosphere begs for it. Luckily, as part of the DVD, there is a gallery of color production and rehearsal stills to give you an idea of what the original audience may have seen if they owned a color TV set, a rarity at the time. Other DVD extras include rare archival footage of Rodgers and Hammerstein appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show to publicize the show (including a recited performance by Hammerstein of "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful?"), as well as a recently filmed introduction by Andrews. The best extra is a 25-minute retrospective featurette, "A Lovely Night: The Making of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Television Classic", which features Andrews, Adams, Ballard and Cypher fondly recalling the experience. Children may not be able to tolerate the black-and-white, but baby boomers will find particular joy in seeing this particular production.
Rating:  -
Because I had read other reviewers comments about this version of Cinderella being far superior to the other versions, I decided to purchase my own copy of the DVD. I didn't check to see if it was available to rent at one of the local video stores, because I know that it's only recently been restored for viewing after many years. But I didn't mind spending a little money on this much praised movie, because with so many positive comments about it, I just figured I was investing in a small piece of American history. Besides that, I just wanted to be able to make up my own mind about it compared to the other versions.
I've loved Julie Andrews in other movies such as "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music". Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Julie Andrews basher; I'm a fan. But I consider this version of Cinderella a let down, especially after all of the praise about it. I'm not sorry I purchased the movie; in fact, I'm proud to own it. This is because after learning that it was shown one time on television, filmed before a live audience and viewed that one night by millions of people, I can have nothing but the utmost respect for Ms. Andrews and the entire cast. I know that only the best of talent could do something of that magnitude. But I beg to differ with the reviewer who commented that Julie Andrews is the only Cinderella. Oh no she is NOT! On the contrary, despite the fact that Andrews was only about 18 when she made this movie, she looked too old for that part. Leslie Ann Warren (in the 1965 version) was far more vibrant, far younger looking and far prettier. Quite simply, Warren just LOOKED more like Cinderella than Andrews did. I'm a huge fan of black and white movies, but I feel the magic of "Cinderella" is lost when viewed this way. Yes, Julie Andrews singing is superior to Leslie Ann Warren's, but this doesn't take away from the fact that Warren did a fine job singing as well. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised because I didn't realize Warren could sing so well. Jon Cypher also sang well and made a very engaging prince in the original movie, but he's no match for Stuart Damon. Damon was some SERIOUS eye candy in the 1965 movie, had a beautiful voice, and as far as I'm concerned, is the ONLY prince for Cinderella!
I admit that the 1965 version had the benefit of being filmed in color, without a live audience and with newer technology. Still, I found the 1957 version of Cinderella flat and boring. I called myself saving the best for last, viewing Brandy's first, Warren's second and Julie's (the ultimate) last to finalize my Cinderella viewing pleasure. The 1957 movie was not only a little difficult on the eyes (yes, I know it was done in kinescope picture and sound) but it also put me to sleep - in the daytime. The cast, singing and acting ability are no better in the original than they are in the other versions. Also, contrary to some of the other reviewers opinions, the cast, singing and acting in the Brandy Norwood/Whitney Houston version of Cinderella is great too. Obviously the Brandy/Whitney version won't go down in history the way the original did. But it's a fun interpretation of the story and far more visually stimulating and beautiful than the original. This is true of the 1965 movie as well. All three versions of Cinderella boast a wealth of talented artists with acting and vocal ability who do great justice to the lovely music of Rogers and Hammerstein.
Overall, I really think all of the pomp and circumstance about the Julie Andrews version of Cinderella has more to do with nostalgia than anything else. Most of the people who love it so much and think it's so superior probably just saw that version before any of the later ones. I'm sure the evening of March 31, 1957 was a magical night for them and millions of others as they watched the story of Cinderella come to life on television along with the beautiful music of Rogers and Hammerstein. But that's all it is people - pure nostalgia. If you enjoy the story of Cinderella as much as myself, do yourself a favor and see all three versions with Julie Andrews, Leslie Ann Warren and Brandy Norwood - then make up your own mind. But for me, the winner of the Cinderella award goes to the 1965 version with Leslie Ann Warren. That one gets my vote!
Rating: -
Ok. So this version is old. It was also a live, made for tv special. So if you are expecting a perfectly orchastrated masterpiece, look somewhere else.
I grew up watching the version with Leslie Ann Warren and had always hoped to find the same movie with the same songs and without Warren's grating voice. I was so glad to find Julie Andrews singing them in this version!
Again, the recording value is not great, but the roughness of it gives it a charm that I find many musicals lacking. Also, the prince in this one is much hotter. The scene where they meet in the ballroom seems much more natural and less "fantasy-based" than in other Cinderella films.
Give it a try and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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