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Alice’s fantastic adventures lead her straight to some of the most memorable characters ever imagined including the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, Humpty Dumpty, the Cheshire Cat, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in the original Alice in Wonderland. Based on Lewis Carroll’s beloved story, this live-action fantasy features Hollywood icons Cary Grant, Gary Cooper and W.C. Fields along with Charlotte Henry as “Alice”. Filled with spectacular sets and imaginative costumes, the classic Alice in Wonderland is a timeless adventure for the whole family!
Product Description
Alice’s fantastic adventures lead her straight to some of the most memorable characters ever imagined including the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, Humpty Dumpty, the Cheshire Cat, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in the original Alice in Wonderland. Based on Lewis Carroll’s beloved story, this live-action fantasy features Hollywood icons Cary Grant, Gary Cooper and W.C. Fields along with Charlotte Henry as “Alice”. Filled with spectacular sets and imaginative costumes, the classic Alice in Wonderland is a timeless adventure for the whole family!
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
97 of 100 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stars and sets make this "Alice" shine, despite problems with this DVD release
March 5, 2010
Format:DVD
I have vague memories (I think) of seeing this on TV as a kid. It's something of a holy grail to nostalgia buffs of course given that nearly every Paramount star who was anybody in 1933 - including most famously Cary Grant, W.C. Fields and Gary Cooper - appears in it, and it's never been on video before. Its reputation isn't all that great though, and the film was shorn of about 15 minutes on reissues which apparently (see below) have been lost for good. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I, inveterate Alice-lover, took a gander.
I needn't have worried. Sure, this suffers from all of the defects one would expect of such a lavish star-vehicle from the day - too much rushing through scenes (even at its original 90 minutes, trying to shunt together big hunks of both "Alice" and "Through the Looking Glass" is going to feel thin), an Alice (Charlotte Henry) who is both too old and just not expressive enough for the part, a director (Norman Z. McLeod) sometimes content to point-and-shoot, and some celeb bits (Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle in particular) that just aren't that great or are too short. And this is one of those rare black and white films where I actually thought more than once while watching "gee, I wish this had been in color". Somehow "Alice" more than almost any classic story, seems to demand a riotous palette of hues.
BUT the sets and art direction - supervised by an uncredited William Cameron Menzies, one of the greatest art directors/production designers of all time but listed here only as co-screenwriter - is truly wonderful, capturing at times the surrealism and madness of the tale with an expressionist's palate of odd shapes and complex backgrounds. Some of the special effects are really excellent as well and seem pretty advanced for the year - the raven flying over Tweedledee and Tweedledum for example, and the flying effects for Alice. And though as I said, the conflation of the two books makes for a dash-through-it-quick-as-you-can feeling to things, the way in which McLeod, Menzies and the rest of the team actually constructed the film is pretty ingenious: it starts with Alice going into Looking-Glass world, rescuing the chess pieces from the fire, then running out of the house and following the rabbit at which point it follows mostly the events of "Wonderland" for 45 minutes or so, only to go back into "Looking Glass" territory smoothly towards the finish.
But the primary joy is in the cast; as mentioned I have some issues, but on the whole I really enjoyed most of the stars, and it seems like many of the more important ones did get into the swing of things. Edna Mae Oliver is delightfully goofy and sly as the Red Queen, Fields is perfect as Humpty-Dumpty, Edward Everett Horton silly but tending towards dangerous as the Mad Hatter, and most of the rest of the names including Sterling Holloway and Jack Oakie seem to be enjoying themselves. Top honors in the end have to go to Gary Cooper as the White Knight - frail, naive, joking, crazy, bumbling, and entirely sympathetic. He dominates the screen and comes the closest I think to being a "real" person - though in the end he's not around long enough to be any more than another crazy dream.
SUMMARY: though this is easily the best "faithful" Alice adaptation I've seen - not that most are that good, mind you - I can't quite give it the top rating, despite the excitement that I felt for it and my general pleasure at the film itself, and that is due almost entirely to the way Universal has handled this release. Though the film doesn't look and sound bad, it isn't in terrific shape either - there are occasional tear lines in the frame and more dirt and speckling than there ought to be, if the film were given much restoration effort. The DVD is completely bare-bones, no extras whatsoever - not even a trailer - and given that it is in fact the shorter reissue, it would be nice to at least be given some information as to why we're getting the shorter version, and what may have happened to the missing footage. I can well understand the anger of some of the reviewers at the cheap way this was put out, timed for the release of the new Tim Burton film and seemingly marketed to capitalize on that - but not to really cater to the collectors who have long waited for it.
Still, a mediocre release of a formerly missing classic is better than nothing, and I think there are enough positives to be accentuated for me to recommend this. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to email Universal with any dissatisfaction you might feel as to the quality of the product. While this "Alice" may not be a masterpiece, it certainly deserved better treatment than this, after 77 years.
I needn't have worried. Sure, this suffers from all of the defects one would expect of such a lavish star-vehicle from the day - too much rushing through scenes (even at its original 90 minutes, trying to shunt together big hunks of both "Alice" and "Through the Looking Glass" is going to feel thin), an Alice (Charlotte Henry) who is both too old and just not expressive enough for the part, a director (Norman Z. McLeod) sometimes content to point-and-shoot, and some celeb bits (Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle in particular) that just aren't that great or are too short. And this is one of those rare black and white films where I actually thought more than once while watching "gee, I wish this had been in color". Somehow "Alice" more than almost any classic story, seems to demand a riotous palette of hues.
BUT the sets and art direction - supervised by an uncredited William Cameron Menzies, one of the greatest art directors/production designers of all time but listed here only as co-screenwriter - is truly wonderful, capturing at times the surrealism and madness of the tale with an expressionist's palate of odd shapes and complex backgrounds. Some of the special effects are really excellent as well and seem pretty advanced for the year - the raven flying over Tweedledee and Tweedledum for example, and the flying effects for Alice. And though as I said, the conflation of the two books makes for a dash-through-it-quick-as-you-can feeling to things, the way in which McLeod, Menzies and the rest of the team actually constructed the film is pretty ingenious: it starts with Alice going into Looking-Glass world, rescuing the chess pieces from the fire, then running out of the house and following the rabbit at which point it follows mostly the events of "Wonderland" for 45 minutes or so, only to go back into "Looking Glass" territory smoothly towards the finish.
But the primary joy is in the cast; as mentioned I have some issues, but on the whole I really enjoyed most of the stars, and it seems like many of the more important ones did get into the swing of things. Edna Mae Oliver is delightfully goofy and sly as the Red Queen, Fields is perfect as Humpty-Dumpty, Edward Everett Horton silly but tending towards dangerous as the Mad Hatter, and most of the rest of the names including Sterling Holloway and Jack Oakie seem to be enjoying themselves. Top honors in the end have to go to Gary Cooper as the White Knight - frail, naive, joking, crazy, bumbling, and entirely sympathetic. He dominates the screen and comes the closest I think to being a "real" person - though in the end he's not around long enough to be any more than another crazy dream.
SUMMARY: though this is easily the best "faithful" Alice adaptation I've seen - not that most are that good, mind you - I can't quite give it the top rating, despite the excitement that I felt for it and my general pleasure at the film itself, and that is due almost entirely to the way Universal has handled this release. Though the film doesn't look and sound bad, it isn't in terrific shape either - there are occasional tear lines in the frame and more dirt and speckling than there ought to be, if the film were given much restoration effort. The DVD is completely bare-bones, no extras whatsoever - not even a trailer - and given that it is in fact the shorter reissue, it would be nice to at least be given some information as to why we're getting the shorter version, and what may have happened to the missing footage. I can well understand the anger of some of the reviewers at the cheap way this was put out, timed for the release of the new Tim Burton film and seemingly marketed to capitalize on that - but not to really cater to the collectors who have long waited for it.
Still, a mediocre release of a formerly missing classic is better than nothing, and I think there are enough positives to be accentuated for me to recommend this. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to email Universal with any dissatisfaction you might feel as to the quality of the product. While this "Alice" may not be a masterpiece, it certainly deserved better treatment than this, after 77 years.
217 of 239 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I am tired of Universal putting out these crappy versions of releases. UCLA has an entirely RESTORED print of this film in their library and it could easily have been used as a resource for this dvd release. This so-called restoration per other review sites, lists this dvd release's picture as minimal with crack and speckles on the film. As for the 90 minute version, I can tell you for a FACT the original film was 90 mins. The missing scenes involved Alice's sister and the Reverend and his concern about Alice's strange behavior. I saw it on television back in the late 1970's in Baltimore. There was a man who had the entire print who lived in DC and he allowed the local station to use it to show. What happened to the man's print, I don't know, but UCLA also has a complete audio soundtrack on tape for this film and also a separate sound effects and music track which could EASILY have been used on this DVD as an extra and very well may have the extra minutes.They are just trying to make a quick cash in because of Burton's release. I had approached Universal over the past 5 years on 3 occassions asking them to release this and was basically told to bug off. NOW they release it??? Give me a break. Greedy bunch of #$%$^&.There is no love behind this release AT ALL.
72 of 78 people found the following review helpful
By N. Huston
Format:DVD
other reviewers have mentioned it; i'll second them: THIS IS THE EDITED 77-minute version (single disc, universal release, upc# 025195053563, just so we're all clear on that); NOT the full 90 minute original.
transfer quality and sound are both 'okay.' not great, not poor - just okay.
single disc, extremely bare bones packaging. NO special features whatsoever. yet another missed opportunity in the mishandling of a classic film.
if you LOVE this version of the story, buy it. if you're a die-hard alice/carroll fan, buy it. if you absolutely NEED everything cary grant, gary cooper or w.c. fields (or even edward everett horton, baby leroy, or sterling holloway) ever attached their names to, buy it. or you could wait until a miracle occurs and a studio somewhere starts to take pride in its back catalogue, releasing films uncut, unedited (hays code cuts are still in effect, really? in THIS day and age?!), with at least SOME minimal effort put into production... but i wouldn't hold my breath.
three stars as-is, because the movie, weird as it is, cut-up as this version is, does radiate a certain charm (and this is, in all likelihood, the ONLY version we're gonna get); otherwise, i'd give it a pass.
transfer quality and sound are both 'okay.' not great, not poor - just okay.
single disc, extremely bare bones packaging. NO special features whatsoever. yet another missed opportunity in the mishandling of a classic film.
if you LOVE this version of the story, buy it. if you're a die-hard alice/carroll fan, buy it. if you absolutely NEED everything cary grant, gary cooper or w.c. fields (or even edward everett horton, baby leroy, or sterling holloway) ever attached their names to, buy it. or you could wait until a miracle occurs and a studio somewhere starts to take pride in its back catalogue, releasing films uncut, unedited (hays code cuts are still in effect, really? in THIS day and age?!), with at least SOME minimal effort put into production... but i wouldn't hold my breath.
three stars as-is, because the movie, weird as it is, cut-up as this version is, does radiate a certain charm (and this is, in all likelihood, the ONLY version we're gonna get); otherwise, i'd give it a pass.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A movie classic
Great classic movie. Should be in all collections - especially for senior adults who want to preserve memories from the past.
Published 12 days ago by LEC
5.0 out of 5 stars
1938 version..
I LOVE this version! The old stars, the campy sets. This movies captures the book so much better than all the others.
Published 15 days ago by battatter
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic Movie for all ages
It was a five star movie period, it is one the whole family can sit and watch. I would recommend it to everyone that loves old classic movies.
Published 22 days ago by Roger Opiela
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alice in Wonderland
It was the 1933 edition in black and white, but
worth watching, The cast was of well-known actors
older adults would appreciate seeing.
worth watching, The cast was of well-known actors
older adults would appreciate seeing.
Published 23 days ago by Brenda Stremmel
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't pass this by
Pressed by Universal to cash in on the release of Tim Burton's 2010 Disney film, this is actually the 1933 Paramount "Alice". Read more
Published 1 month ago by Linwood L. Sasser
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
This is classic, enjoyable, rewarding. I'm fascinated to see Cary Grant, WC Fields and other actors early in their careers. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Scott M. Kruse
4.0 out of 5 stars
Original Alice in Wonderland in Black and White
Was the one I watched as a kid. black and white!Would be great remade in color. Was what I was looking for.
Published 2 months ago by Sue-Ann
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A GEM OF A MOVIE
I gave this movie 5 stars based on its age, picture quality, and special effects. True, it takes liberties with the story line, is not always faithful to the text of the book;... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Wilbur Blankenship
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This 1933 Movie best captures the spirit of the book! ASIN: B0030U1TFW
This 1933 Alice is MY FAVORITE MOVIE VERSION & the best of them all. Not a rote replay of Lewis Carroll's Alice books however this adaptation best captures the creepy characters,... Read more
Published 4 months ago by The Illustrated Home Librarian
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Classic costumes, wonderful acting, old fashioned fun
What's not to like about an imagination gone wild with a witty edge and lovely production values which are reminiscent of great theatre? Read more
Published 4 months ago by Joan C. Cullinane
