PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *irony*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*
The first sound version of ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND was an independently-made feature whose performers are all unknown to me. According to the Wiki article on the movie, its producers were seeking to exploit a wave of "Alice-mania" that had inspired the early thirties, but this ALICE was not a success.
It is, however, a generally accurate adaptation, aside from excluding any scenes that might require expensive FX, such as Alice's size-changing exploits. Still, most of the events follow the book's chronology fairly well, and occasionally the script throws in a few new jokes. Alice, told that the Queen of Hearts intends to cut off her head, remarks that they're only cards, and she can "cut" them.
The actress playing Alice may be the film's biggest deficit, and not just because Ruth Gilbert was roughly 19 years old. Possibly because she was mainly a stage actress, Gilbert plays the role a bit too broadly. The script does have her show some of the character's moments of egotism rather than making her too nicey-nice.
Most of the other performers wear heavy costumes, and the outfits are at least decent if not memorable. After seeing the film today, the one scene that sticks with me takes place at the Duchess's house. In the book, the Duchess only vaguely orders the cook to cut off Alice's head, prefiguring the same obsession in the Queen of Hearts. But in this film the Duchess actually comes at Alice with a cleaver, forcing the girl to flee with the Duchess's baby-- which, as in the book, simply makes a pig of itself. The line-readings are faithful but the script doesn't tap into Carroll's universe of lunacy.
As ALICE curios go, this one is tolerable.
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