''Alice in Wonderland'' is a 1933 American pre-Code fantasy film adapted from the novels by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

. The film was produced by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, featuring an all-star cast. It is all

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

, except for the Walrus and The Carpenter sequence, which was animated by Harman-Ising Studio. Stars include W. C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Edna May Oliver as the Red Queen,

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...

as the Mock Turtle,

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

as The White Knight, Edward Everett Horton as The Hatter, Charles Ruggles as The March Hare,

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

as the

Cheshire Cat The Cheshire Cat ( or ) is a fictional cat popularised by Lewis Carroll in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and known for its distinctive mischievous grin. While now most often used in ''Alice''-related contexts, the association of a "Ch ...

, Baby LeRoy as The Joker, and

Charlotte Henry Charlotte Virginia Henry (March 3, 1914 – April 11, 1980) was an American actress who is best remembered for her roles in ''Alice in Wonderland'' (1933) and '' Babes in Toyland'' (1934). She also starred in the Frank Buck serial '' Jun ...

in her first leading role as

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

. This adaptation was directed by

Norman Z. McLeod Norman Zenos McLeod (September 20, 1898 – January 27, 1964) was an American film director, screenwriter and cartoonist. McLeod's most acclaimed work was made in collaboration with major comic performers of the 1930s, and included such films as ...

from a screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and

William Cameron Menzies William Cameron Menzies (July 29, 1896 – March 5, 1957) was an American film production designer (a job title he invented) and art director as well as a film director and producer during a career spanning five decades. He began his caree ...

, based on

's books ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creature ...

'' (1865) and ''

Alice Through the Looking-Glass ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There'' (also known as ''Alice Through the Looking-Glass'' or simply ''Through the Looking-Glass'') is a novel published on 27 December 1871 (though indicated as 1872) by Lewis Carroll and the ...

'' (1871). It also drew heavily from

Eva Le Gallienne Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author. A Broadway star by age 21, Le Gallienne gave up her Broadway appearances to devote herself to founding ...

and

Florida Friebus Florida Friebus (October 10, 1909 Her obituary in the ''Los Angeles Times'' gives her birth year as 1908. – May 27, 1988) was an American writer and actress of stage, film, and television. Friebus's best-known roles were Winifred "Winnie" Gi ...

's then-recent stage adaptation. When Paramount previewed the film in 1933, the original running time was 90 minutes. By the time it was shown to the press, it was truncated to 77 minutes. Many reviews, including the savage one in ''Variety'', made a point of how long it seemed at an hour-and-a-quarter. Though being released at this shorter time, it is often mistakenly reported that

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

edited it when it bought the television rights in the late 1950s. Universal released the film on DVD on March 2, 2010, as the first

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming m ...

release. It is the only major live-action Hollywood theatrical production to adapt the original ''Alice'' stories. The next major live-action Hollywood production to do so is a two-part adaptation for television in 1985, and the second major live-action Hollywood production for movie theaters to use the title ''

'' was made by

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

for

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2010 as a sequel to the original story.

Plot

Alice (Charlotte Henry) and Dinah live peacefully in their home, until chasing a White Rabbit into a hole. Falling in, Alice is transported to various doors. She drinks a bottle that reads "Drink Me, Not Poison", which makes her grow big. Her tears flood the room while weeping. She eats a cookie and turns tiny. Swimming in her tears, she meets a couple of odd men named Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. She encounters a tea party, where the Mad Hatter and March Hare live. She meets the Cheshire Cat, then she meets Humpty Dumpty, who tells her what a unbirthday is. She leaves and meets a caterpillar and changes size again. Alice returns to her normal size and runs away from the caterpillar and meets the Queen of Hearts. They play croquet by grabbing a flamingo by the neck. Alice is welcomed to a castle, realizing that she is Queen or Princess of the land. The people of Wonderland start to go crazy. Alice gets choked by the Queen, wakes up in her room, and lives happily ever after.

Cast

* Roscoe Ates as Fish Footman * William Austin as Gryphon *

White Knight A white knight is a mythological figure and literary stock character. They are portrayed alongside a black knight as diametric opposites. A white knight usually represents a heroic warrior fighting against evil, with the role in medieval literatu ...

* Leon Errol as Uncle Gilbert *

Louise Fazenda Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films. Early life Fazenda was born in her maternal grandparents' house in Lafayette, Indiana, the daughter of merchandise bro ...

as White Queen * W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty *

Alec B. Francis Alec B. Francis (born Alec Francis Budd, 2 December 1867 – 6 July 1934) was an English actor, largely of the silent era. He appeared in more than 240 films between 1911 and 1934. Biography Francis was born in Suffolk, England. He studied law ...

as King of Hearts * Richard "Skeets" Gallagher as White Rabbit *

as Mock Turtle * Lillian Harmer as The Cook *

Raymond Hatton Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures. Biography Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...

as The Mouse *

* Sterling Holloway as Frog Footman * Edward Everett Horton as The Hatter * Roscoe Karns as

Tweedledee Tweedledum and Tweedledee are characters in an English nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's 1871 book ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There''. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. The ...

* Baby LeRoy as The Joker * Mae Marsh as The Sheep * Polly Moran as The Dodo * Jack Oakie as

Tweedledum Tweedledum and Tweedledee are characters in an English nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's 1871 book '' Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There''. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. T ...

* Edna May Oliver as Red Queen *

May Robson Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born American-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19t ...

as Queen of Hearts * Charlie Ruggles as March Hare * Jackie Searl as The Dormouse * Alison Skipworth as

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

* Ned Sparks as

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larva, larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterfly, butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawfly ...

Ford Sterling Ford Sterling (born George Ford Stich Jr.; November 3, 1883 – October 13, 1939) was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4', he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops. Biography ...

as White King

Uncredited

* Billy Barty as White Pawn/The Pig-Baby * Billy Bevan as Two of Spades *Colin Campbell as Frog Gardener * Jack Duffy as Leg of Mutton *Meyer Grace as the Third Executioner *

Ethel Griffies Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods; 26 April 1878 – 9 September 1975) was an English actress of stage, screen, and television. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic '' The Birds'' (1963). Sh ...

as Ms. Simpson *Charles McNaughton as Five of Spades *Patsy O'Byrne as Aunt * George Ovey as Plum Pudding * Will Stanton as Seven of Spades *Joe Torillo as Second Executioner

Reception

Its status as

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

cast doubt on whether a live-action fantasy with strange-looking characters could be successfully presented on the screen, until MGM's ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to: *'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz'' ** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...

'' (1939). It was banned in China under a category of "superstitious films" for its "strangeness" and unscientific elements. '' Variety'' magazine said that the timeless classic book is too surrealistic and adult-oriented to have a good film adaptation. It said the film is "vividly realized" with genuine humor and a satisfying literary treatment, and the cast is "a stunning aggregation of screen names", but the experience is a non-sequitur "volume of separate four-line gags".

References

External links

* * *
Review at TVGuide.com

* ttps://archive.org/details/AliceInWonderland1933NormanMcleodCaryGrantCharlotteHenryLeonErrolEnglish ''Alice in Wonderland''available for free download from th
Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alice in Wonderland (1933 film) 1930s fantasy films 1933 films American black-and-white films American fantasy films Censored films Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films based on Alice in Wonderland Films based on multiple works Films directed by Norman Z. McLeod Puppet films Paramount Pictures films Films with screenplays by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Works banned in China 1930s English-language films 1930s American films