Alice in Wonderland (1933)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

You've got Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, W. C. Fields, and on and on. Granted, they are hidden in costumes, but sometimes it's nice that someone at least try a film like this. This is the classic story of the trip into Wonderland by a bored little girl. I really liked her character. The Lewis Carrol Alice wasn't a beauty. She had real character in her face. The costumers put together a literal obstacle course of figure for Alice to conquer. I was enthralled as she made her way from one adventure to the next, one verbal joust after another. We know that much of the book and the movies are nonsensical, at least in a conventional way. So words become so important. I've not seen this film since I was in middle school in the early sixties and it's availability is always in question. But I was able to do a little construction on You Tube to regain the flavor of it.

I personally haven't read the books but I have heard they are cleaver social satire and a quintessential children's book as an extremely illogical story. However I do think that while there are good things in this movie there are a lot of problems with it as well. Being that I think everyone knows the plot of "Alice follows Rabbit, tumbles down the rabbit hole and enters a bizarre world" I don't think that's necessary. I will quickly say the good things. Well, I really liked the performance of the girl that played Alice, I think the make-up while you would have to be told the actors are playing them is fantastic as is the set design and the movie is appropriately weird. Okay what's bad? Well The dialogue, I know it's almost lifted from the book (or seemingly) and I know the intention is to be illogical but... I think reading this dialogue would be much better than listening to it and after a while it does get very very annoying. Adding to this I think one of the reasons why this movie can fail is that most of it is just that dialogue and barely anything visually interesting after a while, I know I said the make-up and sets are fantastic and they are but there is really just them talking to Alice after a while. I'd say it is better than it's reputation but then again I still don't think it's that good.

"Alice in Wonderland" is one of the more misguided projects I've ever seen. Apparently, Paramount studio was in trouble in the early 30s and those in charge were worried about bankruptcy. So, in a crazy bid to make a blockbuster, some idiot hit upon taking most of the stars at the studio and putting them into a glossy film where could couldn't even recognize them!!! That's like taking the greatest singers of their age and putting them into a silent movie!The story is a mishmash of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" and consists of a VERY old Alice (19) going on adventures with super-creepy characters--too creepy! It's not at all enjoyable and was a chore to watch from start to finish. Horrible and difficult to enjoy.

This movie is almost legendary, with an alleged star studded cast of people who actually weren't quite stars. We had seen bits and pieces over the years, but never watched it from the beginning until it was on TV recently. The sad fact is, it's not nearly as good as it should be. Movies were supposedly entering into their golden age at this point, but maybe they weren't quite there yet in 1933. This version of Lewis Carroll's immortal tale is dull and leaden, without magic and without an ounce of charm. It starts out with an invented character, a sour-faced old aunt who sets the dark, scolding tone. Alice falls asleep and goes not only through the looking glass but also down the rabbit hole in a confusing set of sequences. Someone thought it was a good idea to try to replicate the famous John Tenniel illustrations from the book, resulting in a lot of grotesque, amateurish looking papier-mâché heads covering up all the characters. The tone shifts throughout, with stylized creatures like the frog and the fish mixed in with real life ducks. Scenes come and go in a hodgepodge, none of them very funny or light of touch. We wanted this to be better from beginning to end, but alas. Nobody has ever really captured "Alice in Wonderland" correctly except for Lewis Carroll himself.