Yikes. Just watched it on DailyMotion. The Alice has the single most annoying speaking voice I have EVER heard in a flim. She has a whiney brooklyn accent very unsuitable for the character. Also, her hair truly DOES "want cutting" as the Mad Hatter says. It's so long it looks dead at the bottom, disgusting. Oh, and it doesn't help that she's way too old for the part. No wonder she never worked again after the early 1940's.
What a fine perspective you have, reviewing a movie in 2007 that was made before your mother was born. You have apparently made NO attempt to view the movie in any context at all. You are tweedle DUM.
Ok, except for the unnecessary name calling, I agree with you. Context is everything. For example, GWTW must be viewed with the understanding of not only the views of the South in the Civil War years, but also in the 30s, when the book was written and the movie filmed.
Yeah dude, did you check out the Natalie Gregory '85 made for TV version? Annoying Alice with all the charm of toilet stall graffiti, hilariously cheap dumpster diving procured costumes... Bad bad bad...
The 1933 version of Alice in Wonderland is one of the finest versions ever done (next to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Peter Sellers) [1972], and of course Disney's animated version [1951]). I remember seeing it as a child and it literally transported me to another world. It was as if the film crew shot the scenes and characters actually *in* Wonderland. There's no other way to explain it. Lewis Carroll's spirit is felt throughout (as with the 1972 version). And it *was* Art. The onslaught of movie stars phased me not one bit, and I'm actually glad many of them are covered up in costume and makeup. It was the production, filming style (mood) and the fine, fine acting of Charlotte Henry that enchanted me. And still does to this day.
I remember watching this one Saturday or Sunday afternoon on the old black and white Zenith when I was maybe eight. I loved it when Alice went through the looking glass, and haven't forgotten it to this day.
I hated the Alice in this too. She was much too old and just came across as obnoxious and hyperactive. A younger girl could have pulled it off, but at her age it was just annoying.
Shirley Temple would have been a few years too young for it, but had she been the right age she would have been perfect in the role.
Witty closing remarks have been replaced by massive head trauma and severe hemorrhaging.
Brooklyn accent? Hardly. I know she was born in Brooklyn, but if she ever had a Brooklyn accent, she got rid of it. Her accent in the film is "General American." (Note that she puts in practically all her r's, which a Brooklynese accent would not -- in which respect it is closer to the British accent Alice should have.)
It's a beautifully made film that holds up incredibly well today, almost 80 years after it was made. It is magical. It is surreal. The characters are wonderful, thanks to the marvellous actors, including Edward Everett Horton, W.C. Fields, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Edna May Oliver, Alison Skipworth, Sterling (Winnie-the-Pooh) Holloway, etc. Sure, it lacks the overblown CGI of the Tim Burton version, but it's an incredible product of the Great Depression and the viewer can easily understand why it captivated audiences back in the day...
"You can dish it out, but you got so you can't take it no more." - Caesar Enrico Bandello
I was going to reply to the original poster but don't need to because I completely agree with your response. This version is my personal favorite, although there are several other fine ones. This 1933 adaptation delights me every time I watch it.
"Wow. Our town has only had a Whole Foods for three weeks and we already have our first gay kids."