Silver Screenings

We’ve never really understood the famous Carroll Lewis story, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

When we were young, we had an abridged version of the book, with 18pt font and pen-and-ink illustrations, that dashed through the highlights of the original novel. As a world-weary nine year-old, we thought it overrated.

Recently, we read the book again, the proper version, and tried to decipher its Deeper Meaning. We couldn’t make up our mind. Is it a parody of polite society? A political commentary? An exhortation to balk against ridiculous rules?

And what of all the mind-altering substances?

Frankly, we do not understand this book, although we appreciate its bizarre, madcap qualities. A person just has to roll with it, we suppose.

It would appear an American studio, Nonpareil Feature Film Corp.*, figured the same thing when they released one of the first adaptations of this story. Alice in Wonderland (1915) is a 59-minute gallop through Lewis Carroll’s novel. Like our old chapter book, it chooses scenes for maximum entertainment value.

Is it true to the novel? Does it leave out important passages?

We can’t really tell. Nor do we care. Although this film isn’t the best the silent era has to offer, it does have utterly fabulous costumes. It’s okay for the plot to Sit this one Out.

Honestly, we hope the studio built the entire film around the habiliments, and we suspect they may have.

We love a film that doesn’t waste costuming opportunities, and Alice in Wonderland is an excellent example. Besides the nosy Alice, characters include the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit, the Blue Caterpillar, the Mock Turtle, and the Cheshire Cat.

Happily, the actors do justice to their costumes. For example, the Blue Caterpillar pulls himself along the ground with his elbows, which also demonstrates the durability of his wardrobe. The Cheshire Cat reclines on a tree limb, looking just as secretive and coy as every clever feline you’ve ever met.

An added feature is the way the animals’ eyes blink in their big heads. (How did they do that?) The large heads are a bit creepy if you think about it, which we don’t.

You’ll not be surprised to learn the costumes were designed by an artist. Newspaper cartoonist/illustrator Charles R. Macauley (1871-1934) won a Pulitzer Prize in 1930 for his editorial cartoon, entitled “Paying for War Reparations”. It was he who designed the extraordinary costumes.

Macauley was involved in the film industry for a few years, even making a film in support of the League of Nations, but bowed out of the business due to financial reasons. (According to Wikipedia, Macauley wrote an article in 1919 for the United States Investor waving people away from the movie industry.)

It’s too bad, though, he didn’t become more involved in the Hollywood wardrobe biz. But then, if he did, he may not have won the Pulitzer.

Now, it’s difficult to find a decent copy of the 1915 Alice in Wonderland, even though it was re-released in 1924 by another film company. The version we saw is poor in quality, as you can tell by the images we’ve posted.

A title card at the start of the film, courtesy of restorers, says only half of this movie survives, and that the original included scenes from Carroll’s follow-up novel, Through the Looking Glass. Another title card says, “No copy of the original 1915 release is known to exist.”

Without sounding like a nitpicker (which we are), we noticed a few typos in the original title cards. Lizard is spelt “Lizzard”, and loveliest is spelled “lovliest”.

But unusual spellings do not detract from the movie. It is an hour of pure fun, even if parts are a bit stilted. If you can find a half-decent version, we hope you take the time to watch it.

In the meantime, tell us: Are you a fan of Alice in Wonderland, either the book or film adaptation(s)?

This post is part of the WE LOVE FAIRY TALES WEEK, hosted by Hamlette’s Soliloquy.

*We could find only two films made by the short-lived Nonpareil Feature Film Corp.: Alice in Wonderland (1915) and The Line-Up at Police Headquarters (1914).

Alice in Wonderland starring Viola Savoy, Herbert Rice, Elmo Lincoln. Directed by W.W. Young. Written by W.W. Young & DeWitt Wheeler. Nonpareil Feature Film Corp., 1915, B&W, 59 mins.