capone666
CinderfellaThe reason animals don't dress the men in fairy tales is they have appendages birds could mistake for an earthworm.Fortunately, nothing is ripped from the body of the lowly wretch is this comedy.After his mother's death, Fella's (Jerry Lewis) father remarries Emily (Judith Anderson), who has two sons (Henry Silva, Robert Hutton) as wicked as her.When his father passes, Fella is renamed Cinderfella, and banished to an empty bedroom.When a ball is held to find a suitor for Princess Charming (Anna Maria Alberghetti) everyone but Cinderfella gets to go. That is until his fairy godfather uses his magic to help him attract the Grand Ducy's eye. By switching the genders of the main characters, this goofy slapstick version of the fairy tale manages to stand out from the throng of lesser Cinderella adaptations.However, no princess is ever going to pick-up a man's abandoned smelly shoe.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca
bkoganbing
Cinderfella is Jerry Lewis's Cinderella story with role reversal. Jerry is once again a poor schnook living on an estate with his stepmother Judith Anderson and stepbrothers Henry Silva and Robert Hutton. All of them treat the furniture better than they do Lewis. Anderson is hoping to make a match for Hutton with Ruritanian princess Anna Maria Alberghetti as the family fortune is dwindling.A tale as universal as Cinderella need not be repeated. We all know what happens in the end. Lewis is under the careful guidance of Frank Tashlin who knew how to get the best performances from him, especially as a solo artist.Harry Warren and Jack Brooks wrote some rather serviceable but forgettable songs for Lewis though why Alberghetti didn't have a number who knows. I'll bet she did and it was cut. Standing out in the supporting cast are Ed Wynn also restrained for him as he was one of the zaniest performers ever as Jerry's fairy godfather. Imagine if after Francis Ford Coppola's epics Cinderfella was made what The Godfather might have looked like. And Judith Anderson was properly sinister as the stepmother.Jerry's fans will appreciate this and it's not bad. But personally the Rodgers&Hammerstein television musical is still best.
Dave from Ottawa
The Jerry Lewis (solo) movie formula was a rather awkward mix of sticky romantic sentiment and wildly elaborate and catastrophic comic ballets and I have often wondered who Jerry himself thought was his target audience. His anarchic, destructive comedy seems aimed straight at 12 year old boys who would be little interested in icky girls, yet there was always a central romantic subplot. And the date crowd would have found his romantic chemistry with his female co-stars lacking and the overall atmosphere rather contrived and juvenile. Anyway, here Jerry does a spin on Cinderella, with Ed Wynn as his Fairy Godfather who uses wizardry to put the bungling Jerry in the path of a European princess. We all know how the story ends, but the difference here is that along the way, the princess has to wade through a succession of truly destructive comic disasters. I wondered why she stuck around with this guy all the way to the end. Any well-bred woman of her class would have gone to take a rest in Monte Carlo after the first one. Yet, contrived and formulaic as it is, the movie manages to still entertain almost 50 years later, largely on the strength of Jerry's comic and cinematic inventiveness. He was a master at staging destructive comedy sequences with few rivals at this. There are worse ways to spend 90 minutes.
mdm-11
One of Lewis's early non-Martin films. Superior production values and charm throughout, this is a true Sunday afternoon family affair. Based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Cinderella", orphaned Lewis is trapped in the situation of being royally taken advantage of by a selfish, scheming step-mother and her two full-grown layabout, playboy-wanna-be sons. The estate and a sizable fortune that went with it was to go to Lewis, but his "family" cleverly swindled him, making Lewis feel grateful to be "allowed to stay". Used and abused as house-boy, Lewis attracts the attention of a love-interest, much to the chagrin of the two rejected step-brothers. The rest is predictable.Not a huge box-office success, this piece of light Hollywood candy nonetheless has found steady fans in the wonderful world of TV re-runs. Like Annette & Frankie and their beach outings, a steady supply of 1960s Jerry Lewis films have been shown and shown again on small screens all over the world. To own this gem on VHS is a sound investment in the comedy entertainment of any household. A big winner in my book!
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