Cinderella (1965 film)



The 1965 version of Cinderella, Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical adaptation of the fairy tale, starring Lesley Ann Warren, was directed by Charles S. Dubin with choreography by Eugene Loring and recorded on videotape (at CBS Television City in Hollywood). The first broadcast was on February 22, 1965, and it was rebroadcast eight times through February 1974.


 * Abusive Parent: The stepmother is physically abusive towards Cinderella (though everything is done off screen) and is also verbally abusive towards our heroine.
 * Book Ends: The musical begins with a gate opening and ends with it closing.
 * The Cast Showoff: The melancholy portion of "A Lovely Night" got replaced with an upbeat instrumental, allowing Lesley Ann Warren to demonstrate her ballet talents.
 * Disneyfication: The film was intended to be more of a straightforward fairy tale than the original, which was more of an Affectionate Parody.
 * Cinderella even rides a carriage that looks like the one Disney's Cinderella rode.
 * Double Entendre: Cinderella imagining acting "coy and flirtatious" towards Prince Christopher, and reminding him not to "say such things."
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Lesley Ann Warren spins during her dress transformation scene.
 * "I Want" Song: Prince Christopher's "Loneliness of Evening", originally a Cut Song from South Pacific.
 * Love At First Sight: Discussed when Cinderella and Prince Christopher sing about how they met and fell in love "Ten Minutes Ago". (Although the ball marks the second time they met.)
 * Meaningful Echo: Christopher and Cinderella quote some lines from the scene where they first met before she tries on the slipper.
 * Meaningful Name: Cinderella explains that she got her name from sitting in the cinders.
 * Karmic Jackpot: In this version, Cinderella's kindness is emphasized when she gives a stranger some water; the stranger turns out to be the prince. This bit may have been taken from the stage versions, where she initially meets the prince disguised as a chimney-sweep.
 * Leitmotif: The fairy godmother has one.
 * Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Prince Christopher had apparently returned from fighting dragons and rescuing princesses.