Before Walt Disney released his animated version in 1951, Paramount filmed a mostly live-action version of “Alice in Wonderland” back in 1933. It’s just as odd as Lewis Carroll’s literary classic from which it was adapted and proved to be a box office failure. Charlotte Henry was cast as the cute but somewhat bland heroine, Alice, who daydreams her way through a series of adventures in Wonderland. As you can see by the still below, Cary Grant played the Mock Turtle.
Hopefully you caught the sarcasm. It’s true - the star was completely covered in costume from head to toe, as was comedian W.C. Fields who portrayed Humpty Dumpty. While their voices were fairly recognizable, the actors were not. MGM was very careful in making sure that the faces of the actors in “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) were not hidden by their makeup and costumes.
Here’s a set still of the room where Alice has her daydream, which leads into her adventure:
The accompanying scene, where Alice wishes she could see what’s on the other side of the mirror.
A set still of one of the fantastic doors Alice goes through in Wonderland. The set design for this film was extremely creative, doing a great job of capturing the surreal world that Alice visits.
The dining room table for the grand banquet scene:
A frame from the film, with Edna May Oliver on the right as the Red Queen. At least you could see her face!
Note the “Queen Alice” on the chair:
A second shot of the table:
When stitched together, you get a view of the entire room:
Last year, I went to a service for a family member at Holy Cross Cemetery in San Diego. In researching who else was buried there, I learned that actress Charlotte Henry had her final resting place outdoors on the hill.
I had to go back to take a second photo, as a friend pointed out that the plot I had captured was actually that of her mother. Charlotte was buried under her married name, Dempsey, right next to Mama.
More on Holy Cross in a future post! See more Paramount set still photos at my main website.
The photos are awesome. It's like the good old days.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you finished that. I was going to say, there's no way she was 44 in that first pic. Okay, 19 makes more sense. Thanks for this piece. I'd never known about this 1933 production, only Walt's 1923-1927 "Alice comedies" which I'm not even sure is the same Alice.
ReplyDeleteThe very next year Miss Henry played Bo Peep in the Laurel and Hardy "Babes in Toyland" ("March of the Wooden Soldiers" to boomers). Walt Disney did a version of that one as well. Wondering if the actress had any opinions on either.
ReplyDeleteHold a certain nostalgia for this "Alice". In my childhood a local UHF station had a weekend spot for vintage Paramount flicks involving Fields, the Marx Brothers, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Burns and Allen, etc. It was like Shock Theatre, but with comedians instead of Universal monsters. "Alice in Wonderland" was among them on the strength of Fields's brief turn.
Despite multiple viewings, I somehow never caught the opening reel or so until adulthood. I always stumbled onto it just as Alice was stumbling onto another character. Fuzzy UHF reception concealed much of the eccentric set design.
Guessing most of the Humpty Dumpty scene was Henry in front of a rear projection screen, interacting with a pre-filmed, enlarged Fields. In the final banquet they have a big prop head instead of a special effect, good enough for a single shot.
It's a safe guess that at best only the speaking stars were actually present in the banquet, with stand-ins wearing the other characters' costumes and makeups. In fact, really wonder if Grant was ever actually inside the suit.