MGM’s The Glass Slipper (1955), a charming retelling of the Cinderella story, worked variations on the much-loved fairy tale. As played by the elfin Leslie Caron, Cinderella is an ugly duckling while her stepsisters (Amanda Blake and Lisa Daniels) are beautiful and talented in addition to being selfish. The stepmother is Elsa Lanchester, who is more droll than cruel. The even more eccentric Estelle Winwood is a godmother who seems less a magical fairy than a character out of Lewis Carroll -- particularly the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland.

In keeping with developing psychological theories of the 1950s, poor little Ella (as explained in off-camera narration by an uncredited Walter Pidgeon) suffers from feelings of rejection that may have a lasting effect upon her psyche unless she soon finds love and acceptance. Eventually providing both, of course, is the suave Prince Charming -- in the unlikely person of Michael Wilding, who was, in real life, then married to MGM’s reigning glamour queen, Elizabeth Taylor. Wilding reportedly disliked having to prance about in white tights, and several critics pointed out that his discomfort was evident on the screen.

The Glass Slipper was the follow-up to the enormously popular Caron vehicle Lili (1953), which had won its star a Best Actress Oscar nomination and boasted the same distinguished list of collaborators: screenwriter Helen Deutsch, producer Edwin Knopf, director Charles Walters and composer Bronislau Kaper. This time choreographer Roland Petit and the Ballet de Paris were added to the mix, allowing Caron to display her impressive gifts as a dancer in such critically praised numbers as the "Kitchen Ballet" and the "Tehara Ballet."

Producer: Edwin Knopf
Director: Charles Walters
Screenplay: Helen Deutsch
Cinematography: Arthur E. Arling
Original Music: Bronislau Kaper
Art Direction: Daniel B. Cathcart, Cedric Gibbons
Editing: Ferris Webster
Costume Design: Walter Plunkett, Helen Rose
Principal Cast: Leslie Caron (Ella), Michael Wilding (Prince Charles), Keenan Wynn (Kovin), Estelle Winwood (Mrs. Toquet), Elsa Lanchester (Widow Sonder), Barry Jones (Duke), Amanda Blake (Birdena), Lisa Daniels (Serafina), Lurene Tuttle (Cousin Loulou), Liliane Montevecchi (Tehara).
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by Roger Fristoe