Singin' and Dancing Back in Time.: Happy Birthday: Leslie Caron , Receving her Star on the Walk of Fame and The Glass Slipper (1955) movie review.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Happy Birthday: Leslie Caron , Receving her Star on the Walk of Fame and The Glass Slipper (1955) movie review.

Leslie Caron, Received the 2,394th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (December 2009).

The Glass Slipper (1955). Is a musical film of Cinderella. Director: Charles Walters and produced by Edwin H. Knopf from a screenplay by Helen Deutsch. The music score is by Bronislau Kaper, the cinematography by Arthur E. Arling, the art direction by Daniel B. Cathcart and Cedric Gibbons and costume design by Walter Plunkett and Helen Rose.cast: Leslie Caron,Michael Wilding, Keenan Wynn, Estelle Winwood, Elsa Lanchester, Barry Jones, Lurene Tuttle, Liliane Montevecchi and Walter Pidgeon as Narrator.

In a small European village the towns people wait for the return of Prince Charles, who as a child was sent away to school. As the villagers prepare the town square, a shy girl named Ella offers to help, but the towns people reject her offer. Calling her "Cinderella" because of her dirty face and clothes. Ella goes home and finds her stepsisters, Birdena and Serafina, getting ready for the prince's arrival. Feeling sorry for herself, Ella goes to her favorite spot, a quiet little pond. She is soon joined by a kind old woman, Mrs. Toquet. Ella shares with her, on the day of her birth, a fortune teller told her mother that Ella would someday live in a palace. Ella also tells her that her mother died when she was five, and Mrs. Toquet says she would like to be her friend. When Ella returns home she asks her stepmother, about Mrs. Toquet. Widow Sonder shares with her that Mrs. Toquet was a eccentric woman known for stealing things and putting them back later.

Back at the palace, Charles father, reminds him that a ball is being held in his honor the following evening. Charles goes walking in the countryside with his friend Kovin, and shares a memory that years earlier while he was home for the holidays. He saw a five-year-old girl crying. Charles never forgot the girl's sad face, adding that he has a weakness for women with an air of sadness about them. Ella is angry to find them in her secret place. Realizing that Ella does not know who Charles is, they tell her that they work in the palace. When Charles tries to talk with her, she pushes him into the water.

When Ella later returns to the dell, she again runs into Charles. This time they experience an immediate friendship. Charles gives Ella an invitation to the ball and teaches her how to dance. That night, Ella happily imagines herself dancing on an enormous wedding cake.

The following evening, Ella attends the ball, wearing gorgeous ball gown and shoes made of glass. Ella finds a splendid coach waiting, and Mrs. Toquet tells her she must leave the palace at midnight. When Charles sees Ella, she is surprised to find out that he is the prince. Ella leaves just as the clock begins to strike twelve and she leaves behind one of her glass slippers. Will the Prince find his Princess?

I just saw the movie, The Glass Slipper, on TCM for the first time. I thought Leslie Caron, made a very charming "Ella" and Estelle Winwood, is a wonderful fairy-godmother. It was fun to see Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty on "Gunsmoke"), as one of the stepsisters.

2 comments:

montyJuly 1, 2010 at 5:42 PM
This is one of your best posts you have ever done Dawn. Awesome job. And I love your new page design. Very classical.
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DawnJuly 2, 2010 at 4:43 AM
Monty, Thank you. I have been looking for just the right background, for our musical Page, for a long time. I'm glad that you like it too. :)
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