The Slipper And The Rose

Welcome back followers! Still going down the more family friendly side of my nature I thought we would also go back and talk about one of my favorite genres of film: the musical. What better way to combine my love of music and movies than to talk about musical films and a very underrated one is The Slipper And The Rose. Of course by the title you may or may not know this is a musical version of the fairy tale Cinderella which is completely a British production filmed in both London and Austria. There is the more famous Cinderella musical with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein III but The Slipper And The Rose is a little more mature in tone but still a family film and quite beautiful the first time you see it. For those of you who haven't despite knowing the story let's first look at the plot of this twice-told tale...

Once Upon A Time...
In the fictional kingdom of Euphrania, their prince returns home from meeting a princess he has been arranged to marry with less than thrilling results. Our prince, Edward, is a romantic who wants to be able to marry for love but his parents (and much of the royal court) need him to marry in order to keep the kingdom from  going to war with neighboring countries. So since Edward has snubbed his chosen bride, a ball is to be held to find himself a wife from one of Euphrania's potential enemy kingdoms.

Since this a Cinderella story we can't go without mentioning our heroine but it's pretty much the same as always: her father has passed away and now she is a servant at the hands of her stepmother and two less attractive stepsisters in her own home. The twist is that before even the night of the ball commences Cinderella meets her fairy godmother who looks less fairy like than you would imagine but she has a way with helping those in trouble and pure in heart and assisting her is a little dog and a lot of wit.

After testing Cinderella's kindness, she helps to send our girl to the ball in wonderful European period dress as "The Princess Incognita" (which I think is quite clever) with the same warnings that at midnight, the magic is over. Once Edward sets his eyes on Cinderella, it's love at first sight for both of them and they dance until the clock sounds its warning and of course a slipper is left behind. Edward searches in vain for his lost love almost to the point of frustration but soon he finds Cinderella and you think our story would end there... but it doesn't it. We go beyond happily ever after... or do we even reach it? Not being of royal blood or born in a country of needed alliance, Cinderella is sent into exile with Edward left to marry for the honor of Euphrania. Will Edward go through with a marriage that is based on duty and not love? Will he ever see his Cinderella again and will she ever get her true happy ending torn from the one she loves?

I can't really remember when I first saw this film but I do remember that when I saw it for sale on DVD that I was intrigued by it because as stated before I love fairy tales. There have been many interpretations of Cinderella and this has to be at least in the top 3 of my choosing for a number of reasons. As I stated the movie was filmed in London and Austria so the backdrop scenery in this movie is absolutely gorgeous especially in the countryside scenes but the palace scenes are also very beautiful...almost as beautiful as the costumes. Since the movie is a period piece set when powdered wigs were the point of high fashion, the costumes are dazzling on not just the women but also on the men and reflect the beauty of the time when Charles Perrault first published the story of Cinderella.

 Before I talk about the actors, another thing that makes The Slipper And The Rose such a gem is of course the music and the composers of the film are ones most of us know very well: The Sherman Brothers. Don't know them you say? Well Robert B. Sherman and his brother Richard M. Sherman are responsible for writing a lot of songs for Disney films and many other films from childhood you may recognize (go on and Google them and just see how many!) and were Academy award winning composers when it came time to do music for this film.

 Besides composing the songs for The Slipper And The Rose, The Brothers Sherman also wrote the film alongside the director Bryan Forbes and as writers they do a pretty good job if only in my opinion of course. Sadly, Robert passed away in 2012 ending the duo but his brother Richard is still alive so their legacy is still far from being finished. The songs themselves are catchy numbers and beautiful ballads and if you love films like Mary Poppins then you are sure to enjoy the songs in The Slipper And The Rose and will end up humming and singing them inside your head long after watching it.

 Now, the film is not all drama and romance there is all hilarious comedy and I believe all three elements work because of The Slipper And The Rose's wonderful cast. The King and The High Chamberlain characters portrayed by Michael Hordern and Kenneth More respectively play off each other very well which provides most of the comedy but the dowager queen played by Edith Evans and Prince Edward's foppish cousin Montague, played by Julian Orchard, also display bits of comedic timing as well.

Even though it is Cinderella's story and I do love romance my favorite character in the film by far is Cinderella's fairy godmother played by Annette Crosbie. She is hilarious in a very lady-like way, poised and kind of soft spoken, but she is clever and witty as well. She doesn't just appear once to grant Cinderella's wish but she also helps drive the story along when needed and the character bows out gracefully when scenes don't call for her.

I guess since this a Cinderella film we should take a look at the actress who portrays her in The Slipper And The Rose, Gemma Craven. I think she makes for a very pretty and sweet Cinderella and she has a nice singing voice but I believe she gets overshadowed by other characters and actors in this film. You wouldn't know that Craven was 26 when she starred in this film because she looks so young and even though she has done acting before and after The Slipper And The Rose, which is a beautiful film but I can see why they don't outright state that this is a Cinderella film because our Cinderella doesn't really shine as bright as her glass slippers here.

If anything The Slipper And The Rose seems to be Cinderella's story told from the prince's point of view and when your prince is played by a handsome actor like Richard Chamberlain it isn't that much of a shock. I'll admit I've always had a small attraction to Richard Chamberlain but it comes from having to watch The Thorn Birds a lot with my mother as a little girl (and there' nothing wrong with that believe me!). Yes, I know now that Richard Chamberlain is gay but you have to admit that you didn't know then because it seems Richard Chamberlain was very good at acting to hide that fact because he seems to be perfect here as Prince Edward. Chamberlain has charm, an excellent singing voice and so much under his belt acting wise before playing this role in The Slipper And The Rose that it is my second favorite role of his even if The Thorn Birds came later.

 Besides the obvious there is actually one more actor in this movie that I have to mention and his name is Christopher Gable, who plays the character John, valet to the prince. Not only does the character get his own side story but he also gets two songs to sing in the film which display Gable's good looks and amazing voice and we even get to see a little bit of his dancing skill seeing as Gable was a British ballet star early in his career.

Once again I stand behind my opinion that The Slipper And The Rose is at least in the Top Three of Cinderella movie adaptations (based on my opinion) for its beautiful cinematography, costumes, songs and its fine cast. The Cinderella character may get lost in the adaptation but it is still a wonderful film worth watching whether it is with your family or on your own curiosity.

***This is a first - I could not locate an original trailer for The Slipper And The Rose for you to watch! There is a fan-made trailer but the beautiful music of the film is too loud in one certain scene but you can still find it on YouTube as well as the whole movie (while you still can since copyrights may cause it to be taken down).***

NEXT TIME: Still in a fantasy mood, we going to look at an animated film that deserves a little love and recognition from those geniuses at Rankin-Bass called Flight Of Dragons.

The Omen: 1976 vs. 2006

Now before when I talked about Carrie from the same year with its own 2002 remake I didn't emphasize it as much even though it was the same thing I am about to do with The Omen. Now mind you this won't be a really heavy handed comparison as both versions of The Omen have a great many similarities except for casting and a few tweaks here and there. Comparing theatrical films to television films is a lot different because its an apple vs. an orange here its like comparing an apple to another apple except one is red and the other is green...see what I mean?

Getting that out of the way...we can focus now on The Omen. Most horror movies like going back to the age old battle of good vs. evil or more importantly God vs. The Devil. Again I am not an overly religious person but I am by no means an atheist or even a Satanist so watching a film like The Omen or The Exorcist does not offend me or make me question my beliefs. That said I can say I have loved The Omen since I first saw it for it tells a story without a lot of gross out like The Exorcist did and the reasons will be clear but first in case you have never seen The Omen...

What's The Plot?
In Rome, U.S. diplomat Robert Thorne rushes to the side of his wife Katherine after learning their newborn son has died just after being delivered. Kathy, as her husband affectionately calls her, does not know yet and a priest named Father Spiletto offers just the solution. Another woman has just died in childbirth leaving a healthy son behind and this child could replace their own lost child to keep Kathy from the pain of losing the baby. Robert agrees and the couple raise the boy they name Damien as their own son while Robert becomes the Ambassador to Great Britain shortly before his son's fifth birthday.

1976 The Omen trailer (SPOILERS!)

On the day of Damien's birthday, an elaborate celebration is marred by tragedy when his nanny hangs herself in view of all the guests. It does not seem to be a suicide as minutes before a strange black dog seems to have swayed the nanny into the act...a dog that only Damien notices with a little kid's wave. The press are all over the suicide and a priest named Father Brennan comes to Robert's office with terrible warnings and crazy claims that he saw Damien's real mother. Robert dismisses the man and as Father Brennan leaves, a photographer named  Jennings snaps a picture. Jennings, who was also at Damien's birthday party, develops his film and finds mysterious flaws in his photos that seem like...omens of bad tidings.

Robert and Katharine soon get a new nanny for Damien named Mrs.Baylock. From the beginning, she makes it known to Damien that she is there to protect him and soon she becomes a driving force between the boy and his parents. She brings in the same mysterious dog spotted earlier by Damien as a watch dog to Robert's great annoyance and questions Katherine as to whether her five year old son should go to an Episcopalian church or even understand the ceremonies. This one point comes into play for as soon as the Thorne family approaches the church, Damien becomes terrified and hysterical to the point where he attacks Katherine violently.

The attack and a visit to the zoo where Damien's very presence agitates the animals into acts of almost aggression starts to get to Katherine. Robert worried about her health sends her to a psychiatrist and finds out Father Brenna is not ready to leave him alone. He meets with the priest who tells him that Damien is the Antichrist...the son of the Devil and that he must be killed. Robert declares him insane and goes to leave but not before Father Brennan telling him about a town called Megido and the monk Bugenhagen  who knows the only way the child can be killed. Shortly after Robert leaves, an ominous storm arises and trying to seek shelter in a church...Father Brenna is struck by lightning and then impaled to death by a falling piece of iron from the roof. The news of Father Brennan's death is the least of Robert's concern because Kathy is becoming afraid of Damien and afraid of having another child like him-she's pregnant and wants an abortion.

2006 The Omen Trailer

When Katherine falls from the second story landing after deliberately being knocked over the railing by Damien, she loses the baby and ends up in the hospital. Robert begins to believe Father Brennan may have been right when Katherine begs for him not to let Damien kill her. Robert is soon contacted by Jennings so he can show Thorne the pictures he had taken of Brennan and Damien's last nanny-the mysterious marks indicate how they would die. Jennings decides to help Robert when it is revealed that he shot a photo of himself and a mark indicates that the photographer will meet the same end. The two men decide to head to Rome to get answers and Robert's final decision is made when he receives news that his wife is dead-Damien must die too.

Will Robert and Jennings be able to stop this demonic child or will hell come to Earth? Can Robert actually kill a child he raised as his own and if he can...will his own soul be damned?

Okay first we talk about what I enjoy from the original 1976 film:



2) Jerry Goldsmith's score is operatic and the Latin chanting is enough to send kills up your spine!

3) The acting is five star!! Gregory Peck is a talented, debonair actor who treats his role as Robert Thorne with the respect it deserves. His chemistry with equally talented Lee Remick is believable and sincere that I can connect with Katherine and Robert Thorne in all they go through. Billie Whitelaw plays Mrs. Baylock and boy does she scare the crap out of me when it calls for her character to do so!! When not being creepy, she seems like such a nice lady and that makes Billie Whitelaw a superb actress as she is also theater trained and a very sometimes overlooked and unappreciated actress.

The only real problem I have with this version is that the boy who plays Damien, Harvey Stephens. He is just too cute to be such an evil child but I guess you would want him to look misleading right? Even so he also doesn't act evil he just seems to act like any normal child behaving precociously and getting into mischief.

The 2006 remake makes only a few tweaks to the original story plot so mainly there are three points I can discuss:

1) Music: I miss Jerry Goldsmith's score because it effectively is chilling. Marco Beltrami's score is not as intense but it is still okay since he scores a lot of horror/suspense/thriller films.

2) Atmosphere: There is a lot creepy imagery trying to overcompensate in scaring you along with jarring cues. The original was less slick and not constantly ominous. Basically, the same as any horror film of this age-it lacks tact and subtlety.

3) Acting: I love Julia Stiles and having a slightly younger Katherine makes her very identifiable but there is something that kind of throws me off Julia. She emotes well in her facial expressions but she is a drama actress so that is kinda of her thing but she lacks Lee Remick's subtlety. Liev Schreiber is attractive its true and he has a nice speaking voice but I always seem to find Liev's performances as wooden-a handsome man just carved out of very pretty wood. Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick looks more like the son of the Devil compared to Harvey Stephens' portrayal but now it seems like they tried too hard to make him look creepy and when children creep you out...I find it disturbing. Since The Omen, he has not been seen in anything else because I believe they have now type-casted that poor boy.

The weirdest choice in casting though has to be...Mia Farrow as Mrs. Baylock? Now I love and adore Mia Farrow for all her philanthropic work in Africa and with children and her acting is phenomenal but...WTF ? I guess it is a reverse of the 1976 version where the nanny was creepy and the child looked innocent or maybe it's because she was in Rosemary's Baby where she played the mother of the Antichrist and now she kind of is playing "mommy" again...I really don't know. She doesn't do a bad job but really I don't want to picture Mia Farrow being creepy and luckily... I don't because the woman is such an angel.

So if I had to choose or give you advice to which one I like better: 1976 version of The Omen wins hands down!! The remake is okay but the gimmick of slick, horrific imagery and the weird casting choices  is enough evidence presented to make the original reign supreme. If you have not seen either version...check out the 1976 film first and then watch the remake and decide for yourself. If you have seen the remake and not the original...do so now or when you get the time. If you have seen the original Omen and are curious about the remake...you already seen it.

Quit while you are ahead, my friend.

Next Blog: We step back into familiar territory...vampire films!! If you like vampires I hope you will enjoy my very special interview...with a vampire! Yes from page to screen...Interview With The Vampire.