Weekend Movie Marathon: Cinderella Stories

[Tom]

Weekend Movie Marathon

Cinderella Stories

This weekend I will watch a few movies which include Cinderella or Cinderella-inspired storylines

[Samurai]

I strongly suggest this one.

[Tom]

I strongly suggest this one.

Is already on my list

[Jimmy]

Do you have this one on your list ? Sinderella and the Golden Bra

I'm mot serious, this is not a good movie. But maybe if you want to add another Cinderella movie to your collection ...

[Tom]

Do you have this one on your list ? Sinderella and the Golden Bra

Never heard of it.

[Tom]

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
A Golden Moment from the Golden Age of Television

In 1957, Broadway's reigning songwriters and Broadway's brightest new star joined forces to create a new musical version of CINDERELLA; it's one-night-only broadcast on CBS-TV was viewed by more than 115 million people - one of the largest audiences in television history - and an instant legend was born.

Julie Andrews, the toast of Broadway for her performance in My Fair Lady, played the title role, joined by a stellar cast of Broadway all-stars. Providing a new take on the timeless tale as well and a bounty of beautiful ballads, comedy numbers and waltzes were the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, already at the top of their game, thanks to such musicals as Oklahoma!, South Pacific and The King and I.

Though Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA has gone through several TV remakes and hundreds of stage productions, the original, magical version vanished after its initial broadcast, never to be seen again...until now.

So take a journey back in time to a special moment in television history, and see it as it happened - live. Many fans thought they would never get the chance but, as the Fairy Godmother says, "Impossible things are happening every day!"

My thoughts:
Interesting to see as this was a live broadcast from the 50s and was thought to be lost. Fortunatly the B&W video for broadcasting this on the west coast had survived. The video and audio quality is therefore not that great.
In this musical we see a very young Julie Andrews. And Man-at-arms as the prince 

[Jimmy]

Do you have this one on your list ? Sinderella and the Golden Bra

Never heard of it.

This is the link to the trailer, but honestly the're only 2 reasons to buy it :
1. You want all the DVD release by a label (this is why I have it);
2. You want all the movie release about a theme.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/VfqlfprZsaQ" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/VfqlfprZsaQ</a>

[Tom]

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Cinderella comes to life in this echanting version of the most beloved fairy tale of all time. A sparkling fantasy of music, magic and romance, RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA captivates from overture to finale with a delightful score and glittering performances from an all-star cast. Academy Award nominated LESLEY ANN WARREN is charming as the raggedy waif turned belle of the ball with Broadway star STUART DAMON as the Prince. Also starring Academy Award nominated WALTER PIDGEON, Academy Award Winner GINGER ROGERS and Academy Award Winner CELESTE HOLM as the Fairy Godmother, CINDERELLA will waltz into the hearts of the entire family and live happily ever after as one of the most irresistible musicals ever made.

My thoughts:
A remake of above live-broadcast. I liked it even better.
But why do the songs of Roger & Hammerstein all sound the same 
A few of the song reminded me of The Sound of Music.

[Tom]

Ever After: A Cinderella Story
Andy Tennant's film "Ever After" tells the "real" story of Cinderella. In this film version, Cinderella is Danielle De Barbarac, played to perfection by Drew Barrymore. Our heroine does have a wicked stepmother and stepsisters, but in no way is she in need of rescuing. Contrary to other adaptations of Cinderella, Danielle rescues herself from her horrible family and the prince from gypsies. With help from her fairy godmother Leonardo da Vinci, Danielle overcomes hardship, marries prince charming, and lives happily ever after.

My thoughts:
This must be my favorite Cinderella movie. Highly recommended! A take on the Cinderalla story without any mystical help of a fairy godmother and such.
But this is another example of how in American movies French characters cannot pronounce their own names  Worst offenders: Henry and Francois. That was something which quite disturbed me when I had the chance to watch this movie with the original audio track for the first time. In the German dub they had this corrected.

[Tom]

Tri orísky pro Popelku
The film stars Libuse Safrankova as the title character, a young woman who is put upon by her stepmother and stepsisters. The film employs a twist, though, when a handsome prince comes knocking. Cinderella does not simply fall into the prince's arms. In this version, he must actively pursue the young woman who is a skilled sharpshooter prone to wearing hunting outfits. Cinderella also has three wishes at her disposal, gained from three magic nuts.

My thoughts:
This is a charming Czech/German co-production and tells the czech version of the Cinderella story (and not the version by Charles Perrault made famous by Disney, which is mostly known in the US). Also this Cinderella is quite a cutie 

What I would like to see as a movie based on the version I know from my childhood. This version is by the Brothers Grimm and is called "Aschenputtel". It is well-known here in Germany. From Wikipedia: "The tale is called "Aschenputtel" and the help comes not from a fairy-godmother but the wishing tree that grows on her mother's grave. In this version, the step-sisters try to trick the prince by cutting off parts of their feet in order to get the slipper to fit. The prince is alerted by two pigeons who peck out their eyes, thus sealing their fate as blind beggars for the rest of their lives." 

[DJ Doena]

Yeah the Czechs have made quite a lot of good children movies and TV shows and the DEFA was good at this, too.

[Tom]

The Slipper and the Rose
THE SLIPPER AND THE ROSE is a grand musical adventure in the tradition of 'The Sound of Music' and 'My Fair Lady'. This lavish production features Richard Chamberlain in a spirited re-telling of the classic Cinderella fairy tale. The Academy Award nominated score is provided by the Sherman brothers, the Oscar-winning song-writing duo ('Mary Poppins', 'The Jungle Book', 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'). THE SLIPPER AND THE ROSE is a brilliant mix of fantasy and realism that will enchant viewers of all ages.

No musical collection would be complete without this romantically delightful film.

My thoughts:
A nice Cinderella musical. Just a tad too long. Interesting point in this movie. They do something here the other Cinderella movie mostly choose too overlook. The prince and Cinderella get together 1.5 hour into the movie, but they have to overcome another obstacle then: Convince the parents of the prince that he can marry someone not of royal blood.

[Tom]

Mädchenjahre einer Königin
Now I have to start to stretch the Cinderella theme a little.
This movie is an old "kitsch" classic in Austria and Germany from the year 1954. This is the first collaboration of Romy Schneider with writer/director Ernst Marischka. The following year they started making the famous Sissi trilogy. This movie is in the same vain as that trilogy.
The story: A young queen does not want to wed into an arranged marriage and therefore flees. On the run she meets a young man in a pub and falls in love with him. What she doesn't know: The young fellow she falls in love with is the prince she is supposed to marry. But both do not know of each others real identity yet.

[Tom]

Coming to America
It is the 21st birthday of Prince Akeem of Zamunda and he is to marry a woman he never saw before. Now the prince breaks with tradition and travels to America to look for the love of his life.

My thoughts:
Probably my favorite Eddie Murphy movie. Always fun to watch.


This was it for my Cinderella weekend marathon. 7 movies in all. Not bad for three days.

[DJ Doena]

"They have the BicMac, we have the BigMick"

Have to buy it sometime, especially because I am watching Beverly Hills Cop III just now and had almost forgotten how funny the Eddie Murphy movies from the 80s were.