Cineanalyst This is fairly well made for 1914, and it's been restored and presented in a higher quality than most films from that period, including some lovely color tinting. It'd be nice if other early silent films were made available in such quality as Mary Pickford's vehicles have been, but we'll take what we can get, I suppose. In addition, the well-known fairytale narrative makes this an ideal candidate from the early phase of feature-length films to see on DVD if you're not already an avid viewer of ancient cinema.This is an early example of expert focus on filming and staging around the star. Pickford is filmed in the best lighting; her face is nearly always center stage, even if it means blocking or not showing frontal views of others; and there are a good number of close-ups mostly for her. That's for the best, by the way, as not much else here seems as appealing or talented, including Owen Moore, Pickford's real-life husband at the time, as Prince Charming. Otherwise, the film-making here is rather prosaic even for 1914; for example, notice how they return to the same camera positions for scenes in the kitchen, bedroom and ballroom. The framing for the kitchen scenes are very similar to those of the kitchen scenes in the 1911 Thanhouser version of Cinderella, which I saw recently before this.The clock dream is amusing and creative, though. It begins as a superimposed vision above sleeping Cinderella and then becomes its own shot crosscut with her sleeping. The nice added score helps, too. It's worth comparing this to the dance of the clocks nightmare in Méliès's 1899 "Cinderella", as well as the one in his 1912 version. I also like the through-the-window framing of Cinderella looking out the window at dancing fairies during her other sleeping scene; it's also one of the few times Pickford's back is to the camera.There were other stars in 1914, but I haven't seen any of them receive this good of treatment, with such classical star focus, for another year or two. Nobody, however, was bigger then in the movie world than was Mary Pickford.

MartinHafer This film is included as a DVD extra for another one of Mary Pickford's films, THROUGH THE BACK DOOR. Both have very well-preserved prints and nice musical scores--making this DVD well worth having.In many ways, this film differs from the traditional Cinderalla story. However, these differences generally help the story and make for an excellent film.Unlike the more traditional story, this time the Fairy Godmother comes to Cinderalla before the ball. She's dressed like an old lady and Cinderalla is kind to her. So, the fairy and all invisible fairies nearby all decide they should do something nice for her.Additionally, I was surprised to see that she actually met the Prince before the ball as well. While she was gathering wood, she slipped and the Prince came to her aid--even though all the noblemen with him seemed to think that Cinderalla was just some dumb peasant. I liked this, as it game the Prince more depth. I mean, think about it, in most versions he sees her just once at the ball and pledges to marry her because of love at first sight! What a dope! But here, there is a greater depth to him and the story.Naturally, the Fairy Godmother does show up and makes Cinderella beautiful for the ball. And, naturally, the Prince is quite smitten with her. And, naturally, she runs away and the Prince vows to marry the woman whose foot fits the magic slipper. All this is pretty standard, but you certainly could NOT expect them to change these details. But, in an interesting twist, the Prince immediately recognizes Cinderella when he finds her dressed in rags and is delighted. Sure, he puts the shoe on her, but this is after he's taken her to the castle to show his father, the King. This, also, seemed like a nice way to tell the story. The Prince in this tale is no vacuous pretty-boy! One thing that the story did not do (and I doubt any movie ever did show this), but according to my daughter who studies folklore in college, in one version the wicked step-sisters do some insane things to try to claim the shoe is theirs. They saw their toes off and horribly deform themselves to try to get it to fit!! I would just love, for once, to have that included in a film--though it might just traumatize the kids watching it.Overall, you might be surprised to hear this, but I truly think I enjoyed this more than the more famous Disney and Rogers-Hammerstein versions. It's sweet and well-told but unfortunately forgotten since it's "only a silent film" as some knuckleheads might think, few will probably get around to it.

caldoni Really this film isn't very good, but echoing another comment I made somewhere on here, don't you think making movies used to be more fun? The ugly sisters played by a bunch of ridiculous men? The gaggle of silly kids that are the forest fairies? they must have had a blast! I guess because these weren't considered art there was no pretension that they should be classy. the tone of it was a little like a john waters film. The trick to enjoying a film like this is to forget how important movies are to us, as people, as a culture, as individuals. I tell people I'm an independent film maker and generally the regard that either like I must be crazy or like I'm doctor or something, which is cool, but imagine back in the days when you'd have been treated like hustler like a pimp, how could you treat yourself that seriously? Anyways, this movie is pretty much totally dumb, but so is Cinderella. The whole shoe thing? He falls in love with a girl who he's never met and doesn't even get a name out of, and decides to track her down by having every woman in the land try on her shoe? so why didn't the shoe turn back into a pumpkin or squash or whatever? no one in the kingdom had Cinderella's shoe size? if he never met her but she was dressed like princess wouldn't it be a safe assumption that she's not actually in your kingdom? royalty tends to know the other royalty nearby. and also if he's so damn in love with why can't he pick out her face? it can't have looked that different without the accoutrement of the ball. also: he's going to marry a peasant? is he crazy? the king and queen don't want him to use that marriage for something beneficial like making peace or pooling power with allies? all the while everyone knows he probably could have just hired poor Cinderella, put her up at the castle and had his way with her any time he felt like it, which is pretty much what royalty did back then. for example henry the... what the crap was I saying? I got distracted. oh, yeah. I would give anything to have worked on a movie like this. but that doesn't mean you'll enjoy the movie per Se.

HarlowMGM Virtually unseen for almost a century, the 1914 film Cinderella was one of Mary Pickford's very first feature films and was a key film in her climb to her place in the hearts of moviegoers as "America's Sweetheart". The movie has resurfaced as a bonus feature on the DVD to Pickford's THROUGH THE BACK DOOR.Pickford stars as the heroine of this beloved fairy tale well-known to probably every human over the age of two. It's quite a surprise to see Mary, usually cast as a fearless spitfire, in the passive role of gentle, mistreated Cinderella but she gives a lovely performance and is quite moving and endearing. The movie also offers a rare chance to see Pickford's first husband, early screen star Owen Moore, cast as Prince Charming. Most of the rest of the cast have minor screen credits (it was apparently quite difficult to get regular supporting work in the early silent film era) but do their jobs well. Regarding the comment by another reviewer, I do believe the stepsisters are played by women however they are made up to look as haggish as possible with obvious putty noses and I suspect their over-sized feet for the "trying on the glass slipper scenes" made have been doubled by men.This movie is quite charming and romantic although there are a few good laughs, notably when Cinderella's Fairy Godmother instructs her to round up some mice and rats, Cindy clearly is wondering if this is going to be worth the effort. Another hearty laugh comes at the step-family's expense after Cinderella is revealed to be the mystery lady the Prince is seeking in which a wiseacre voices a suggestion that probably crossed many of the moviegoers minds.The print quality of this film is fairly good for a film less than a decade from it's Centennial and the original score by Donald Sosin is wonderful and completely appropriate. Cinderella is a fairy tale that enchants every generation and this fragile silent beautifully captures the other world quality of this timeless tale.