Beautiful, moving film.

An Exercise In Nonsense

Absolutely the worst movie.

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

While I would like to rate the actual telecast higher, I never got to see it live and I still haven't seen the actual telecast. In fact, no one may ever see the actual production again. The March 31st, 1957 telecast was live and may or may not have been recorded. A little bit of historySo, you're probably thinking, "Well, what about the kinescope copy?" This copy was not of the live March 31, 1957 production. I'll quote from the 1999 release of the CD liner notes written by Dider C. Deutsch:"By all accounts, the production of the telecast was not unlike a highwire act from the start; as Richard Lewine acknowledged in a recent interview, 'There was no room for error. Remember that everything was live then, and when we got on the air ... there was no possibility for a retake.... I suggested to my boss, Hubbell Robinson, that we should make a kinescope of the production, not for broadcast mind you, just to see what it looked like before we went on the air. He said, ''Do what you think is right, and if you have a problem let me know.... '' So, on March 17 we had a sort of preview in front of a small invited audience at CBS Color Studio 72, at 81st Street and Broadway, which is where the show was to be done.'The values of the full scale rehearsal were obvious. As Richard Lewine remarked, 'We made notes, we saw all kinds of things we wanted to change, in short there was our chance to do it the way wanted to do it.... For example, Dick (Rodgers) didn't like the way the designer had done the dress for Cinderella in the opening scene; it was a makeshift poor girl dress, he went on the stage and looked at it and said, ''This is a piece of junk...'' And he tore a piece off it...' (it was too fancy).Overall, the rehearsal might have added an estimated $20,000 to the production's budget of $350,000, but it helped make a sleek presentation that was far superior to anything that had been done on television." -- Dider C. DeutschBased on these notes above, the kinescope version was not of the actual March 31, 1957 telecast, but of the March 17, 1957 full-scale preview rehearsal. It makes no mention of a kinescope copy of the actual production. In short, there does not presently appear to exist a copy of the live telecast production in any form that I am aware of. The only version we have is of the full-scale dress rehearsal from March 17th. This is a fine point to consider when writing a review for this production. Since the kinescope version doesn't depict the live telecast performance, the final production may have had better production values than what we see in the kinescope copy as they had nearly two weeks to polish the production with better costuming, sets, lighting and practice.Note that 1956 saw the introduction of the color Quadruplex (quadrature scanning) tape recorders using Ampex tape. By 1957, NBC had such a recorder in its studio at the time of this telecast. CBS may or may not have had one. Some have theorized that NBC may have (or had), in its archives somewhere, a quadrature tape copy of this production in color that it taped on the night of the performance. CBS may have also had a color copy for rebroadcast purposes, but some theorize the tape was bulk wiped a week after presentation. I'm still hopeful that someone will find a quadrature tape of this color production in their archives and finally release the actual March 31st color presentation.Review of this productionWhat I will say about the surviving kinescope copy is that this version of Cinderella is charming and unique. Clearly, Julie Andrews pulls off her version of Cinderella perfectly. Her upbeat sweetness translates well to this classic version of Cinderella. The production does lack in-camera effects. Edie Adams plays the godmother in an almost sadistic way. It's like she enjoys trying to make Cinderella completely unhappy before granting her wish. Cinderella doesn't comply, though. She just wishes harder. More than this, the godmother compounds her sadistic streak with her odd cackling laugh right before she does something good. It's a weird combination. The rest of the cast pulls off their parts amazingly well, including Robert Penn, the town crier with his booming baritone voice.The R&H numbers work amazingly well across the board with the many strong vocalists chosen. In fact, this really is a televised stage production. CBS could have turned around and placed this right onto a Broadway stage immediately following the broadcast and milked a stage production in 1957. Unfortunately, there was apparently a lack of foresight for cross-marketing in 1957.The downside is that what we are seeing in the kinescope copy is not the actual production. It's a rehearsal. So, it's likely the sets and costumes may not have been fully completed. The actors may not have fully had their lines down yet. So, it appears to be rough in places. Overall, I enjoyed it enough to purchase the music in stereo which is well worth a listen.

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", 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 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 half-hour 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.

I was around when there was no televisions in the homes and you had to go to the movie theaters to see movement on a screen, in fact, a very large screen we thought until Cinerama came into our lives. Everything was live. There was no filming for perfection and the first person to come up with the idea of filming live programs was Desi Arnaz when they started "I Love Lucy" on television, but I'm getting ahead of myself.Think of it! Every week, Sid Ceasar and Imogene Coca and others were rehearsing for a one and a half hour variety program called "Your Show of Shows" and even during the live T.V. Show, they made such mistakes that made the show funnier than if it was filmed. "Your Hit Parade" was live ever week. Snooky Lansen once had the hit song of the week and had a problem remembering lyrics and one time wrote them on the floor of the studio in chalk and when it come time to sing the song, someone had erased the lyrics! Ah, the days of live television! Then came along Rogers and Hammerstiens "Cinderella" in which they starred their new found personality Julie Andrews who was wowing Broadway in "My Fair Lady". So, they got the right cast together and put of a live musical version of Cinderella with wonderful music and Edie Adams camping it up as the Fairy Godmother when Cindereall, Julie Andrews, claims to Adams, "Oh! Fairy Godmother; what a beautiful dress!" and Adams with disdain in her voice says, "Oh! This old thing! It's 550 years old!" For years, it was rumored that they could never show the old Kinsoscope copy of Cinderella is because it was either destroyed of lost. After seeing all the talent in the show, it would have paid a lot of royalties out, but no more since most of them have passed away, so why not release it on D.V.D.? One thing about years later is that both Julie Andrews and Leslie Ann Warren played Cinderella on T.V. and they both starred together in "Victor Victoria" with Andrews playing a woman playing a man playing a woman and Warren playing a Chicogo Mobsters Whore! YOu must admit they both went from Saints to Sinners through the years.Thank God for the restoration of this wonderful show, and, of course, the original record album, always available, and now on C.D. can still be heard in it's original recording by Columbia! Wonderful show! Let the young'ins see what the fun of live T.V. was like in the golden age of television!

Back in the golden age of television, when TV specials were just that, waiting for the broadcast of a show like "Cinderella" was truly an anticipated event. Add the names of Rodgers and Hammerstein and Star-in-the-making Julie Andrews, and you have an entertainment milestone! This was the celebrated songwriters only musical especially written for television, and it is a classic. The project was specifically intended to showcase Andrews (then appearing on Broadway in "My Fair Lady"). The hand-picked cast included Ilka Chase as the stepmother, Edie (here billed as Edith) Adams as the fairy godmother, and Broadway Stars Howard Lindsay and his wife, Dorothy Stickney as the king and queen. A newcomer, John Cypher, later to gain fame on ''Hill Street Blues'' was cast as the prince, and up and coming comedians Alice Ghostley and Kaye Ballard played the stepsisters. Because this was before the advent of videotape, the production was kine scoped while being broadcast live, although the original color kine scope was lost. Julie Andrews may look somewhat matronly (even at 21) to be Cinderella, but her lovely voice and star quality carry her through. Fans of "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound Of Music" will be pleasantly surprised to see how vulnerable she can be. Cypher is a suitable prince, with a good voice, while Adams is pushing a bit too hard as the godmother. Ilka chase, as the stepmother, and Ghostley and Ballard as the stepsisters are more silly than wicked. In all fairness though, this version was written more as a modern take off on the fairy tale, while the 1965 remake returned to the mood of the traditional story. The sets and costumes are rather cut-rate, somewhere between medieval and '50s modern, but they get by. Andrews is really the reason to see this, and it did attract a record audience at the time. The DVD is a treat with a remastered black-and white picture which, while not perfect, is good enough. There are several nice extras, including a documentary with Andrews, Cypher, Adams and Ballard reminiscing about the making of the production. Either for historic or entertainment reasons, "Cinderella" is well worth having. It's not every day you can watch a star being born.