Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (Broadway Theatre Archive)

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This gorgeously designed theater production of Lewis Carroll's world-famous fantasy, based on a famous production from the 1930s, features an astonishing array of notable actors. Richard Burton is quietly touching as the doddering White Knight; Eve Arden spits out commands as the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts; Donald O'Connor plays the woeful Mock Turtle as a jaunty standup comedian; and such varied talents as Colleen Dewhurst, Nathan Lane, Maureen Stapleton, James Coco, Andre Gregory, and Geoffrey Holder fill out Carroll's phantasmagoria as Kate Burton (Richard's daughter) plays the title character in the classic blue-and-white dress and blond tresses. All the sets and costumes are meticulously based on the illustrations from the original books (the story line is a mix of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass), capturing artist John Tenniel's elaborate creations with zest. Though the story lacks dramatic action, the wordplay and visuals are delightful. --Bret Fetzer

Description

From the elaborate Broadway revival of the 1932 Eva Le Gallienne/Florida Friebus production comes a whimsical retelling of the Lewis Carroll classic. In director Kirk Browning's enchanting adaptation, Alice's adventure in the land of fantasy is presented within a contemporary framework. An all-star ensemble cast--including Richard Burton and his daughter Kate--makes this a stellar version of a truly timeless tale and a great theatre treat for young and old alike.

Customer Reviews:

Everyone walked through this abbreviated quasi-musical........2007-07-29

The play is based on two books by Lewis Carroll "Alice's Adventures Underground" and "Through the Looking-glass." There have been several presentations, each with it own strength or weakness. This is a 1993 TV presentation of which you can see that lots of time and energy went in to it,

We go through the story at light speed only to slow down for a few badly placed songs. This presentation should be an embarrassment to everyone involved. However if you did not know any better a log of Lewis Carroll's humor and way with words comes through. There is a little television trickery that actually helps the presentation.

You would think with such a great cast that it could not fail:
Kate Burton as Alice (at 26 years old)
Austin Pendleton as White Rabbit
Richard Burton as White Knight
James Coco as King of Hearts
Tony Cummings as Knave of Hearts
Alan Weeks as Tweedledee
André De Shields as Tweedledum
Eve Arden as Queen of Hearts
Maureen Stapleton as White Queen
Colleen Dewhurst as Red Queen
Andre Gregory as Mad Hatter
Geoffrey Holder as Cheshire Cat
Zeljko Ivanek as March Hare
Nathan Lane as Mouse
Donald O'Connor as Mock Turtle
Swen Swenson as Gryphon
Fritz Weaver as Caterpillar
Richard Woods as Humpty-Dumpty

Bottom line this presentation takes an effort to get trough.

Good...not great........2006-12-23

I am a HUGE Nathan Lane fan. The only reason I bought this was for Nathan Lane and he (and the rest of the cast) is fantastic! The woman who played Alice (whos name for some reason I can't remember) isn't good. Nathan Lane is the highlight. Very good and a must have for any theatre or Nathan Lane fan.

a rare treat for theatre fans.......2006-03-04

Fantastic television performance of the Eva LeGallienne adaptation of Lewis Carroll's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, featuring the 1982 Broadway revival staging by director Kirk Browning. Richard Addinsell's lovely score highlights the production with fine performances all around, headed by Kate Burton who gives Alice a sassy, modern sensibility. LeGallienne's version (which premiered in 1933 and was first revived in 1947) throws the stories and characters of "Wonderland" and "Looking Glass" together, creating a veritable kaleidoscope of colour and whimsy.

The cast is truly impressive including - Colleen Dewhurst's manic and imposing Red Queen; the befuddled White Queen of Maureen Stapleton; Nathan Lane plays the waterlogged Mouse as a tango-dancing lothario; Kaye Ballard as the baby-beating Duchess; Geoffrey Holder as a sinuous, seductive Cheshire Cat; and Donald O'Connor as the soft-shoe Mock Turtle.

Perhaps most poignant is Richard Burton, playing the melancholy White Knight. His scene with real-life daughter Kate is very touching, and his performance of the White Knight's bittersweet "A-Sittin' on a Gate", one of the truly great songs in Addinsell's score, is a highpoint of the whole production. The actual story of Alice is bookended by a nervous young actress about to star in her very first leading role. The saga of Alice herself provides a nice counterpoint as Lewis Carroll's heroine also must face her fears if she can ever return home.

Truly a production to savour and a rare treat for all theatre and Lewis Carroll admirers.

It's a bad sign when the sets are better than the actors........2004-02-17

This particular "Alice" has a long history. It started as a hit play in the early '40s, was resurrected in the late '70s with Kate Burton in the title role, and then ported to Great Performances on PBS - the latter of which is what we have here on DVD. Presumably it worked a little better on stage, and probably a little better in the '40s, too. Sadly, it runs through both "Alice" stories in a breakneck 90 minutes' time, and much of the acting is truly lamentable - some of the actors are so bad, I actually thought that might be an intentional joke, as with Austin Pendleton's monotonistic White Rabbit! Probably the best of them are Donald O'Connor - the only one of the lot who can actually sing! - as the Mock Turtle, Geoffrey Holder as the Cheshire Cat, and Richard Burton as the White Knight. The tea party crew is fairly good as well. The rest...well, the sooner forgotten about, the better.

Despite the acting, the sets and costumes are gorgeous - they're mostly made (with the exception of the Cat) to look like Tenniel woodcuts. That makes it quite a visual treat, if nothing else. This isn't the worst "Alice" I've seen, but it's not very high on my list. Still, it has enough good points it's probably worth a rental on a rainy week...just don't expect anything too incredible.

Great Find.......2003-02-14

I remember watching this on PBS when I was a kid and I was so excited to see this on DVD. It's a great production with a great cast. I like that the play features both Alice in Wonderland AND Through the Looking Glass. As a Lewis Carroll fan I was happy to see how closely the play follows the books.

Average customer rating:

5 Stars for the Movie itself--0 Stars for DVD "Remastering"
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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Starring: Michael Crawford , Fiona Fullerton , Peter Sellers , Dudley Moore , and Ralph Richardson
Manufacturer: Digiview Productions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0006LBXZO

Product Description

Digitally Remastered - This British production recounts faithfully, and sets to Music, the adventures of little Alice, as told by Charles Dodgson (better known to you and I as Lewis Carroll). Fantastic sets, faithful dialog, great songs (composed by John Barry), state-of-the-art special effects and an all-star cast featuring some of Btitain's most beloved comedic talent make this a Musical you will want to watch with the entire family

Customer Reviews:

5 Stars for the Movie itself--0 Stars for DVD "Remastering".......2005-02-04

This is one of the absolute best musical film versions of the classic tale. Fiona Fullerton's Alice is delightful and believable and very true to the Alice envisioned by Lewis Carrol. The sets are beautifully done and are truly reminiscent of John Tenniels original illustrations. The adaptation does pull in Tweedle Dee and Dum - originally from the "looking Glass" sequel - and it rather curiously does away with the Cheshire Cat in the tree scene (which actually was shot but for some reason wound up on the floor of the edit booth!!) but all in all it is very true to the original text of the book and even incorporates some of the original poems into songs that work wonderfully! The bad news is that the colors in the master this was taken from have obviously started to deteriorate- a common problem with films of the late 60's and early 70's - and it is grainy like an overused videocassette version!- Most companies spend a bit of time digitally repairing these problems before mastering them to a DVD -- this was aparently a BARE BONES "digital remastering" -- still -- the fading colors and sometimes blurry focus add an additional dreamlike aura if you can get past the idea that DIGIVIEW REALLY CHEAPED OUT!! Still, it is a very inexpensive DVD so don't pass up this chance to see the movie now - then write to Universal - who is the current owner of this film and start crying for a TRUE REMASTER!!! Who knows, maybe someone will actually realize what a GEM they have here and give it the treatment it deserves! I am purchasing the new Universal DVD release to see if that is any better( I hear it is the same!) - I will be reviewing on that version as well and hopefully they will have made some improvements! You might want to check my review on that version before deciding which to purchase.

Searching for this movie.......2004-11-25

I've been searching for this movie since my pre-teen years. It is by far the best rendition of Lewis Carroll's narrative. I am so glad to see it on DVD.

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