Customer Reviews

Cinderella [VHS]

5 star:		(262)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Simply stated, Richard Rodgers is America's finest composer. No other composer in our history equals the consistent quality, innovativeness, range, and sublime beauty of his compositions. Rodgers' exquisite, unforgettable melodies are crafted with such subtle ingenuity and sophistication that they never lose their freshness or their appeal.

Rodgers' musical genius was brilliantly matched in two legendary partnerships, the first with lyricist Lorenz Hart, and the second with librettist-lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers' collaboration with these two gifted men elevated and transformed musical theater into a true and distinctive American art form.

The magic of the Rodgers & Hammerstein partnership is beautifully realized in their definitive version of "Cinderella". No other composer was more adept than Rodgers in translating character and plot into music. And in "Cinderella" as in all of his compositions, he does so with perfect clarity, inventiveness and irresistibility.

Hammerstein's ever elegant lyrics are alternately and appropriately wise, witty, rapturous, and heartbreaking. Hammerstein had an unerring understanding of the human heart which is why he is able to consistently evoke profound empathy for his characters and their predicaments.

Rodgers' graceful and exceptionally beautiful score is infectious and exhilarating. And those Rodgers waltzes- perfection, as always!

"Cinderella" is blessed with a sterling cast including a young and very handsome Stuart Damon as the Prince. Damon has a beautiful voice and is quite appealing. Newcomer Lesley Anne Warren, who sounds like an angel singing, is captivating and lovely. The maturity, intensity, and poise of her performance as Cinderella belie her tender age of 18 when this production was mounted. Celeste Holme as the Fairy Godmother, Ginger Rogers as the Queen, and Walter Pidgeon as the King add gravity and warmth to the proceedings. And the comedic performances of Pat Carroll, Barbara Ruick, and Jo Van Fleet as Cinderella's nasty stepsisters and stepmother, respectively, sparkle, amuse, and delight.

What more can I say? Don't miss this!

As a lover of the fairy tale "Cinderella," I have watched this over and over again since I was a child. I can't remember a time when I didn't know the songs in this musical. I used to go around singing "Impossible" all the time as a young girl.

The story is simple and straighforward, we all know it, so there's no need to go into any plot details. This story does not deviate from the story we all know and love.

What makes this particular rendition a bit unique is simply that it's filmed as a play, rather than as a movie. The sets are very stage-y, and the acting is overdone and a bit cheesy for a movie -- but you'll find that it works well on the stage.

The reason it works in this is because they didn't TRY to film it like an ordinary movie -- because it wouldn't have worked. They filmed it as though they were just video-taping a play, and it was charming.

Leslie Ann Warren is positively adorable in the role of Cinderella. The rest of the cast is wonderful as well; the stepsisters can be a riot sometimes, I can't help laughing at "The Stepsisters' Lament." This is a movie any fairy tale lover will enjoy.

This is the definitive version of Cinderella. Heart warming, delightful and that's an understatement! Leslie Ann Warren makes it come alive. She made a BEAUTIFUL Cinderella. The feeling she put into it makes it seem real rather than fantasy. The best scene is at the end when the Prince tries the slipper on Cinderella's foot. The emotion that both Leslie and Stuart Damon put into it is simply beautiful. The feeling given by all the main cast is amazing. I'm 46 and I've loved this version ever since I first saw it as a kid. If you have no heart, you won't enjoy it. If you do, you won't go wrong buying it. : )
My ONLY problem with the DVD is the claim that the recording was remastered. In my several years old VHS tape, there is a color shift in an early scene. It's also on the DVD. Towards the end there is a slight glitch in the soundtrack on my tape. Same glitch on the DVD. One wonders what it was remastered from? In spite of those 2 minor problems, the quality is excellent and the added tracks are a plus. Especially the mini documentary including interviews with Miss Warren, Stuart Damon and Celeste Holm. Over all a great DVD. The story alone makes it worth the money!
Regarding some of the other reviews, I take exception to the poor quality claim. Mine is excellent. I can only assume there is a bad batch of them out there that should have been returned. The over all picture quality of my DVD is BETTER than my VHS. I have only heard the sound over my PC speakers but they are quality speakers and the sound is excellent.
Thank you Leslie Ann Warren, Stuart Damon and the rest. Thank you Rodgers and Hammerstein. And Thank you Amazon.com for helping to make it available.

HEARTWARMING, BEAUTIFUL, FUN AND MEMORABLE!!!!!!, July 24, 2004
Reviewer: FEEMEISTER1 (Tallahassee, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

(UPDATE--12/17/04--I just saw the Julie Andrews version on PBS for the first time. It couldn't TOUCH this version! (And Julie Andrews has always been my favorite lady singer!!) I thought the 57 version was flat, and the only thing really good in it at all were the "Stepsisters, Kaye Ballard and Alice Ghostley!" I thought I would be blown away by Julie singing these wonderful songs, but I was not. I much prefer Lesley Ann Warren's versions of the songs. THIS VERSION RULES!!!!!)

This rendition of Cinderella is superb! The music is abolutely beautiful! I remember all the songs almost word for word from when I watched it when I was a child. I really loved it then, and watched it every year it came on. Now I'm 47, and I love it more NOW than I did THEN! I feel sorry for some of the reviewers here that can't see the beauty of this with their imagination, and who think everything has to have expensive new special effects and must be made with the greatest singers in the world (like Julie Andrews. No one can touch her singing!) But that is NOT what this is! This is a beautiful, unique, heartfelt rendition. Cinderella is fresh and sweet and tugs at your heart! The prince is gorgeous and nice and decent! The stepmother and sisters are FANTASTIC! They really make this complete! Jo Van Fleet's sneer is the best! (She even sneers when she's talking and has her back to you. "There's no pleasing THAT prince!" Her VOICE even sneered!!!) And Pat Carroll is so REAL!!!! And Esmerelda (Barbara Ruick) is hysterical with her eye batting!

I LOVED the Prince's song at the beginning! It was warm and searching and heartfelt, and really set the tone for the singing! "The Prince is Giving a Ball" was novel and catchy, and I've remembered parts of it for almost 40 years!!! "In My Own Little Corner" I have loved and remembered all the words to for all this time! This song really comes alive and she puts SO much into it! Ms. Holm is a beautiful fairy godmother, and makes me wish I had been able to see her films when she was young! Her and Cinderella singing "Impossible" is wonderful! It's the usual Rodgers and Hammerstein's "nonsense" song and is very fast-paced, "wordy" and hard to sing! But they did an excellent job of it, and Cinderella's eyes absolutely sparkled! (This is another catchy one I've remembered ALL the words to for ALL this time!!!) The Prince and Cinderella dancing is just too wonderful for words! I wish I had all that room to waltz in while they're waltzing, but I only have a tiny living room and I don't know HOW to waltz, but I really wanted to! The movement of the dance was GREAT!!! (It would have been nice to see Ginger Rogers do a whole dance instead of one turn around the floor--but it was nice to see the legend dance in this for only a moment!) The stepsister's song (Stepsisters' Lament) was really a masterpiece! That was for all the normal girls, who aren't sweet and beautiful and ethereal like Cinderella! (She's a frothy little bubble--with a flimsy kind of CHARM! And with very little TROUBLE--I could break her little ARM!!!) This song is TOPS!!! "Ten Minutes Ago" and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful" are beautiful gems of songs. They are truly memorable! "A Lovely Night" is another lovely one (there really are NO bad songs in this one)!!! And when the Prince comes to their home to try the shoe on them!!! JO Van Fleet tries to steal the scene again, by sitting down for them to try the shoe on her old "sneery" self when she sees her daughters can't make it at all! The man just gets up and walks away--he wouldn't give her the satisfaction! But to me, the greatest scene in the whole thing, is when the Prince wants to try the shoe on Cinderella and the stepmother starts screaming and squawking, and the Prince yells "SILENCE!!!!" and they show the frozen tableau of the stepmother and sisters when they actually were made to shut up! THAT SCENE IS ABSOLUTELY indescribable! I truly can't think of words for how funny it was and how satisfying!

This is not "Gone With the Wind" acting and it's not performed by opera queens. It wasn't high budget and out to make billions of dollars!

However, the songs in it are beautiful. I rate it up there with Mary Poppins (Chim Chim Cheree and Feed the Birds) and of course, the Sound of Music.

This is an operetta meant to entertain. It is witty and funny and heartwarming and fun and beautiful and memorable. I have remembered it and loved it since 1965 and find it truly unique and recommend it to all!!! (Except for people LOOKING for only Gone With the Wind Acting or Prima Donnas!)

I've read the reviews comparing this version of Cinderella to others, but to any little girl growing up in the sixties, there is nothing that compares to this. This was one magic night a year to my sisters and I - this, to a little girl's eyes, was the most beautiful, sparkling evening of the year, which had all three of us singing along, dancing in the backyard, and knowing without a doubt that pumpkins could really be carriages and poor little servant girls could marry a prince - it's possible... things are happening every day! If you are a mom reading this, wondering if she should purchase this for her little girl, do so, without a doubt. Watch it with your girls. This version should be mandatory viewing for every little girl who wants to see her dreams come true, and mandatory re-viewing for every former little girl who watched it way back when - back when we were small, and still believed in magic.

For those who, like me, grew up with this version, you are going to be thrilled it is coming out on DVD. It is the 1965 TV version directed by Charles S. Dubin starring Lesley Ann Warren and Stuart Damon. I love this version, when I was young, my mother taped it for me and I still love it. The songs are wonderful. The actors' singing may not be the best but, since I never saw the Julie Andrews version, I still prefer it to the 1997 version with Brandy and Whitney Houston.

This was an exceptionnal musical and it's great that it is being released on DVD, so if anyone knows the date, please write a review and tell me.

My wife had this on VHS when we met, and it has always been one of her favorite movies. When I found it available on DVD, I new I had to buy it for her so we could enjoy the DVD quality sound and image in our home theater. I was very disapointed with the image quality, it looks as though it was transfered from an old VHS to DVD rather than from original master tapes. The songs, story and acting, are still as wonderful as they were on the VHS, I was just not happy with the image and sound quality of this DVD.

I grew up watching this movie every year. My favorite song is "In my own little corner." Lesley Ann Warren looks beautiful in this film. According to modern standards, this movie does not have special effects and the like, but it does have a lot of charm.

Anyway, enjoy the magical journey.

The second small-screen version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical version of CINDERELLA, and probably the most fondly-remembered.

Lesley Ann Warren (fresh from her first Broadway musical "110 In The Shade") makes for a ravishing heroine, while Broadway's Stuart Damon is a suitably-charming Prince.

However, it is the star-studded supporting cast that really impresses; including Celeste Holm as Fairy Godmother, Ginger Rogers as the Queen, Walter Pidgeon as the King, Jo Van Fleet as the Stepmother, Barbara Ruick and Pat Carroll as the Stepsisters.

Simply delightful, this classic presentation looks as good as expected for its DVD debut; the original master tape was used for the first-ever digital restoration of the story. There is some instances of grain and some imperfections with the mono sound but nothing we haven't seen before.

The special features include retrospective documentary called "A Cinderella Story" which has new interviews with Lesley Ann Warren, Stuart Damon and Celeste Holm. There are also detailed filmos for the main cast members, trailers for Columbia's BYE BYE BIRDIE, OLIVER! and ANNIE, and DVD-ROM access to the official Rodgers and Hammerstein website.

This classic musical has been out-of-print for quite some time now. Snap it up before the clock strikes Midnight!

Famed composers Richard Rodgers And Oscar Hammerstein wrote "Cinderella" as an original television musical (their only one) for young star-in-the-making Julie Andrews. Supported by a cast which included Edie Adams, Howard Lindsay, Dorothy Stickney, Ilka Chase, Kay Ballard, Alice Ghostley and Jon Cypher, it received a tremendous publicity campaign and aired on March 31 1957. At the time, it drew a record number of viewers, although only the East Coast saw the live color broadcast (the rest of the country saw a black-and-white kinescope.) And, due in part to the poor quality of the kinescope, it was not repeated again until 2004.

Meanwhile, in 1964, Rodgers decided to mount a new production himself (Hammerstein had since died) with a new cast and adaptation, replacing the farcial quality of the original with a more traditional version. The result was another ratings smash, and as intended, a television perennial which was repeated for years. This time, the title role was played by young Lesley Ann Warren, who was introduced in this production and began a career which is still going strong today. Stuart Damon (later to gain fame on "General Hospital") played the prince. The supporting cast had Academy Award-winners Celeste Holm, as the fairy godmother, Jo Van Fleet as the stepmother, and Ginger Rogers as the queen. The beloved Walter Pigeon was cast as the king. And, as the two stepsisters Prunella and Esmerelda, were Pat Carroll and Barbara Ruick. Although the story stuck to the familiar fairy tale this time, the original songs were , of course, retained.

What more can be said for this near-perfect treasure? Ms. Warren is simply glorious as Cinderella, her fresh beauty complimented by her sweet singing voice, and Damon is her ideal Prince (Christopher) Charming. Celeste Holm sparkles as the fairy godmother, and she and Warren share one of the best numbers "Impossible/It's Possible". Van Fleet is a beautifully caustic stepmother, and both Carroll and Ruick are outstanding as the step-sisters. Unfortunately, both Rogers and Pigeon have little to do as the king and queen, but they ARE regal in their roles.

There are a couple of drawbacks--although critics at the time praised the "lavish production"; in reality it is done in the manner of a stage show, with sparse (and very basic) settings, and typical television camera-work. But the biggest error was using videotape instead of film for this production. Because of it's limitations, videotape does no justice to a show like this, severely limiting the visual values needed to compliment the other elements. It may be fine for situation comedies, but it was totally wrong for a musical fantasy. It must be admitted, however, that after a few minutes, one gets used to it, but what a difference film would have made! Because this version is the traditional one, it is my favorite of the two, but both are so different in approach and treatment, that each can be enjoyed on their own terms.

Two cast members of the 1965 version were already professionally acquainted with "Cinderella". Walter Pigeon provided the uncredited narration for the 1955 MGM film adaptation "The Glass Slipper" and Barbara Ruick was the daughter of character actress Lurene Tuttle, who played "Cousin Loulou" in the same movie. Another winner, that version featured Leslie Caron as Cinderella. [phillindholm]