Cinderella (1914) Review
Today’s subject is Mary Pickford, one of the most popular actresses of the silent era. Pickford got her start in films working for D.W. Griffith at the Biograph Company, eventually working her way up through the industry to the point that she became her own producer, making her films through United Artists, the company that she founded with Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, and her then-husband Douglas Fairbanks. It is probably her United Artists films that represent her best work, notably Sparrows, a film that I hope to talk about sometime in the future. For now, though, let’s go back in time and talk about a film whose story should be instantly recognizable to many audiences today: Cinderella.
For the few of you who don’t know the story of Cinderella, here’s a quick run-down: Cinderella (Pickford) is a kindhearted woman who lives with her evil stepmother (Isabel Vernon) and two stepsisters (Georgia Wilson and Lucille Carney). Having been denied permission to attend a ball held for the prince (Owen Moore) to find a wife, Cinderella gets help from a fairy godmother (Inez Marcel) who gives her a carriage and dress so she can attend. Only one catch: she only has until midnight before everything the fairy godmother has given her disappears!
Pickford’s biggest strength was in playing childlike roles, which makes her a natural choice for the part of Cinderella. She has the childlike wonder of someone who really has not had much of a chance to see the world, while also being able to sell many of the emotional moments. Remember that because this is a silent film, they can’t rely on dialogue to keep the story moving along. There’s an occasional title card, but too many title cards can break the flow of the story, so the story entirely relies on the visual expressions of the actors and actresses to move it along, something that Pickford does very well. Her moments of panic when she sees the clock striking 12 are very believable and we get the idea that this is someone who wants more in life, but knows she is not destined to have it (or at least she thinks).
As for the rest of the cast, they do a fine enough job of moving the story along, though they really aren’t that prominent in their roles. The stepfamily, though mean to Cinderella and refusing to let her attend any royal functions, are not really that much of an obstacle here. When the prince goes to Cinderella’s home to find her, you’d think that they would follow and try to sabotage her chances, but instead they just let him go to the house and discover the truth. Even the fairy godmother, though her role is definitely important, is not really featured that much throughout the film. In a way I think this kind of works to the film’s advantage, as the focus is clearly on Cinderella and her relationship with the prince.
The effects for the time are fine, though one problem with reviewing many of these early silent films is that the quality of the surviving prints is not always good and makes it a bit hard to fairly judge those kind of film elements. Still, many of the transitions hold up fairly well, like when the fairy godmother gave Cinderella the dress for the ball. The scenery and costumes are definitely nice and the film benefits from having quite a bit of outdoor shots throughout. However, one minor story problem occurs due to the outdoor shots: when Cinderella sees that it’s midnight and that she must leave, it is obviously still daylight out. I know the technology wasn’t advanced enough to show them outdoors at night while still being able to see their faces, but this easily could have been switched to an indoor shot instead.
Cinderella is not a particularly long movie, clocking in at less than an hour, yet surprisingly it feels like they had to add some filler to make it longer. The whole subplot with the fortune teller felt very pointless, as the stepfamily probably would have assumed the prince would have been attracted to them anyway and the fortune teller just comes across as an unnecessary comedic addition. There’s also another lighthearted scene where Cinderella is in bed and she’s dreaming of a clock falling apart. I think it was supposed to represent the worry Cinderella was having after the events of the previous night, but this also felt like a pointless comedic addition. One minor comedic moment I’ll admit to liking was when Cinderella first arrived at the ball and keeps touching the face of one of the guys who brought her; it was a quick, but effective moment that fit with the characterization they were going for.
The whole story angle of the prince using the slipper to find who he’s looking for always felt like a flawed plot point to this tale. The slipper could obviously fit more than one person and the prince should know better when he remembers what she’s looks like. There’s a very sweet moment where he finds Cinderella and realizes that the two women he fell in love with but never got to see again were the same person, yet for some reason he still has to put the slipper on to confirm it. I felt this would have been much more effective if he had decided to marrying her without having her try on the slipper.
Cinderella is bogged down by silly plot points that make the film move slower than it should. In the end though, Pickford’s performance of the title role is just so charming that I can’t help but recommend this for her performance alone.
8 out of 10
For the few of you who don’t know the story of Cinderella, here’s a quick run-down: Cinderella (Pickford) is a kindhearted woman who lives with her evil stepmother (Isabel Vernon) and two stepsisters (Georgia Wilson and Lucille Carney). Having been denied permission to attend a ball held for the prince (Owen Moore) to find a wife, Cinderella gets help from a fairy godmother (Inez Marcel) who gives her a carriage and dress so she can attend. Only one catch: she only has until midnight before everything the fairy godmother has given her disappears!
Pickford’s biggest strength was in playing childlike roles, which makes her a natural choice for the part of Cinderella. She has the childlike wonder of someone who really has not had much of a chance to see the world, while also being able to sell many of the emotional moments. Remember that because this is a silent film, they can’t rely on dialogue to keep the story moving along. There’s an occasional title card, but too many title cards can break the flow of the story, so the story entirely relies on the visual expressions of the actors and actresses to move it along, something that Pickford does very well. Her moments of panic when she sees the clock striking 12 are very believable and we get the idea that this is someone who wants more in life, but knows she is not destined to have it (or at least she thinks).
As for the rest of the cast, they do a fine enough job of moving the story along, though they really aren’t that prominent in their roles. The stepfamily, though mean to Cinderella and refusing to let her attend any royal functions, are not really that much of an obstacle here. When the prince goes to Cinderella’s home to find her, you’d think that they would follow and try to sabotage her chances, but instead they just let him go to the house and discover the truth. Even the fairy godmother, though her role is definitely important, is not really featured that much throughout the film. In a way I think this kind of works to the film’s advantage, as the focus is clearly on Cinderella and her relationship with the prince.
The effects for the time are fine, though one problem with reviewing many of these early silent films is that the quality of the surviving prints is not always good and makes it a bit hard to fairly judge those kind of film elements. Still, many of the transitions hold up fairly well, like when the fairy godmother gave Cinderella the dress for the ball. The scenery and costumes are definitely nice and the film benefits from having quite a bit of outdoor shots throughout. However, one minor story problem occurs due to the outdoor shots: when Cinderella sees that it’s midnight and that she must leave, it is obviously still daylight out. I know the technology wasn’t advanced enough to show them outdoors at night while still being able to see their faces, but this easily could have been switched to an indoor shot instead.
Cinderella is not a particularly long movie, clocking in at less than an hour, yet surprisingly it feels like they had to add some filler to make it longer. The whole subplot with the fortune teller felt very pointless, as the stepfamily probably would have assumed the prince would have been attracted to them anyway and the fortune teller just comes across as an unnecessary comedic addition. There’s also another lighthearted scene where Cinderella is in bed and she’s dreaming of a clock falling apart. I think it was supposed to represent the worry Cinderella was having after the events of the previous night, but this also felt like a pointless comedic addition. One minor comedic moment I’ll admit to liking was when Cinderella first arrived at the ball and keeps touching the face of one of the guys who brought her; it was a quick, but effective moment that fit with the characterization they were going for.
The whole story angle of the prince using the slipper to find who he’s looking for always felt like a flawed plot point to this tale. The slipper could obviously fit more than one person and the prince should know better when he remembers what she’s looks like. There’s a very sweet moment where he finds Cinderella and realizes that the two women he fell in love with but never got to see again were the same person, yet for some reason he still has to put the slipper on to confirm it. I felt this would have been much more effective if he had decided to marrying her without having her try on the slipper.
Cinderella is bogged down by silly plot points that make the film move slower than it should. In the end though, Pickford’s performance of the title role is just so charming that I can’t help but recommend this for her performance alone.
8 out of 10
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