Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

William Sterling

Writers:

Lewis Carroll (novel) and
William Sterling (written by)

Release Date:

22 April 1973 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Tagline:

Made in Wonderland, the most magical musical of all!

Plot Keywords:

Cat | Hare | Alternate Dimension | Duck | Dodo

Awards:

Won 2 BAFTA Film Awards.

Cast

Fiona Fullerton	...	Alice
Michael Jayston	...	Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson)
Hywel Bennett	...	Duckworth
Michael Crawford	...	White Rabbit
Davy Kaye	...	Mouse
William Ellis	...	Dodo
Freddie Earlle	...	Guinea Pig Pat
Julian Chagrin	...	Bill the Lizard
Mike Elles	...	Guinea Pig Two
Ralph Richardson	...	The Caterpillar
Fred Cox	...	Tweedledum (as Freddie Cox)
Frank Cox	...	Tweedledee
Peter O'Farrell	...	Fish Footman
Ian Trigger	...	Frog Footman (as Peter Trigger)
Peter Bull	...	Duchess

Also Known As:

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Australia)

Runtime:

101 min | USA:95 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:U | USA:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Joseph Shaftel Productions

Trivia:

Hywel Bennett has no dialogue in the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Alice grows larger in the White Rabbit's home, some items on the side table disappear between shots, and the vase of flowers on the table in the center of the room vanish between shots as well.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alice: Please, Mr. Dodgson. Just once more.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in College (2008)

Soundtrack:

I've Never Been This Far Before

"Almost" a great adaptation of Carroll's classic

While this adaptation has a plethora of talent in front of and behind the camera, including impressive sets, costumes, make-up and dazzling special effects, it has two main flaws.

First is William Sterling's hesitant direction, not knowing when to pick up the pace or cut a number that's not working; overall, there's a sense of lag and lethargy. His credits show that this was his last theatrical release (though this fate should have befallen any number of directors over the years).

Second, is the fact that this is a musical. Now, you might expect that with John (Dances With Wolves, Body Heat, James Bond) Barry handling the tunes, that there would be some outstanding music and you'd be right (the arrangement of "The Me I Never Knew" alone is powerful enough to demand that this music be re-released on CD!). The "musical" works best when Barry is allowed to put Carroll's words to music. It falters, however, as does too many minutes of the film, when he's forced to put music to long-time collaborator, Don Black's lyrics. Black is no novice, having won an Oscar for his lyrics to Barry's Born Free, but these songs are tack-ons, fillers; they don't work and Barry/Black have a thankless task trying to make them do so (it would be like writing a musical to Shakespeare and throwing out The Bard's lyrics).

Fiona Fullerton is a handsome Alice, and while her singing isn't professional, it has an endearing warmth. Her voice improved as she became a pretty and capable British stage actress, excelling in, yes, musicals.

Barry/Black went to better success with the UK stage hit, Billy.