The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976) - November 19, 2013

[Akijama]

The Slipper and the Rose Blu-ray

The Slipper and the Rose Blu-ray review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD-JBMEsv78

[EricJ]

This one's actually GOOD for a 70's post-Disney Sherman Bros. musical.
(Although, at that point in their carer, we weren't even noticing "Huckleberry Finn" or "The Magic of Lassie", so this one comes off like a lost discovery.)

I remember as a kid thinking, "Who wants to see someone else's Cinderella?" but they make some surprising original improvements on the tale that Disney could do well to have noted.
For example, the Fairy Godmother doesn't just walk in and hand out gifts, she

[Show spoiler]first tries playing the "Be nice to an old woman or else" routine to find worthy people and poor Cindy is, of course, worthy--

And Richard Chamberlain not only complains about his "arranged marriage", but finds that

[Show spoiler]maybe the court won't let him marry just any old commoner after all.

...Any mention of who it's from? Not sure who's got the 70's Reader's Digest films.
(As you can tell from the singing crowds at the bottom of the poster... )

[The Mad Kiwi]

YES! This is my favorite live-action version of Cinderella (the Disney animated film, of course, will always remain the definitive take on the story for me). I feel it's such a lush and classy adaptation with tons of wit and charm.

I paid a pretty penny for the OOP DVD years ago, and while the image quality is merely okay, it was worth it to own. That disc has some really nice features I hope get ported over (commentary track, vintage "making of," interview with the Sherman Brothers). If not, I'll keep the DVD and make my own combo pack. I've never bought a title from Inception Media before. How are they in terms of transfers? I want this film to sparkle in HD.

The cover's rather nice and certainly better than either of the DVD ones.

[Flanger-Hanger]

I thought we'd have to wait years to see this one. A very pleasant surprise to see this news!

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by The Mad Kiwi

YES! This is my favorite live-action version of Cinderella (the Disney animated film, of course, will always remain the definitive take on the story for me). I feel it's such a lush and classy adaptation with tons of wit and charm.

Mine too, Kiwi. Not for me the Disney version — I admire Disney for what he achieved, but I can't watch his films — his changes to the stories make me shudder a bit, as I dislike the forced "morality" underlying them, and all that cuteness makes me itch. But maybe that's just me.

(But it does kind of bother me that so many people don't know any versions of these stories other than the Disney ones — or that there even are other versions. Again, maybe just me.)


Anyway. I really hope Inception Media Group is up to doing a decent HD transfer, and won't just give us an upscale.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Any news on this?

[MichaelR]

Originally Posted by Flanger-Hanger

Any news on this?

Review in progress.

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by Flanger-Hanger

Any news on this?

Beautiful transfer IMO, same extras as the old Image DVD release. Definite pickup if you're a fan.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Originally Posted by MichaelR

Review in progress.

Originally Posted by DMRI2006

Beautiful transfer IMO, same extras as the old Image DVD release. Definite pickup if you're a fan.

Good to hear. I never bought the DVD (like I'm paying $100 for a used copy on Amazon) so this is all great news.

[arcadeforest]

Willing to give this one a try - never seen it but tend to like these types of films, looking forward to the review.

[MichaelR]

The Slipper and the Rose Blu-ray review

[BluLamp]

Does anyone know what the deal is with this release having two different English DTS-MA HD 5.1 tracks?

[filmmusic]

I have never seen this and I was wondering if it is worth a blind buy. It seems like something I would like very much.
I love musicals, I love period atmosphere, i love fairytales, so...

[MacEachaidh]

A definite yes from me.

It's based on the Charles Perrault version of the story, and remains true to that tone (so, *very* different from Disney, which I'm inclined to say is not a bad thing) with some lovely location shooting in central Europe, a satisfyingly whimsical score by the Sherman Brothers, and a great cast of much-loved British faces. (Annette Crosbie almost steals the film as the kind of Fairy Godmother everyone would have wished for.) It's clearly a labour of love in every aspect.

Ultimately, it's a pity it never had a big studio behind it, like most other film musicals, or it could have been more famous than it is. But it's great it got a release to BD anyway, especially since they did such an amazing job with the transfer. The design, colour and clarity of the image is dazzling.

Yeah, did you get the impression I love it?

[B2MP, Inc.]

B2MP, Inc. is pleased to announce The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella" is now available on DVD mastered from the gorgeous 2013 restoration. It is shipping next Monday and should be up on the website soon.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Does anybody know anything about the Shout Factory release coming up in February?

[Edgar_in_Indy]

In case anybody else was tempted by the low price (and cool black case) of the UK version, I just confirmed that it does not work in my US player.

When I bought it, the database said that Regions A and C were untested. I have updated the database to indicate that it does not work in Region A.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Just found out about the upcoming Shout! release if anyone's curious:

https://www.amazon.com/The-Slipper-a...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I imagine the logic behind this is due to fact that Shout! Factory now fully owns Westchester Films (previously formed from Castle Hill Films, who held the US rights to this title) and are taking advantage of Westchester's output being it costs them less than licencing an obscure title in this vein from another company.

On the other hand, I still find it strange that it's getting another re release when the B2MP Inc/Inception BD is still available and in print for now (that is until their rights expire which will probably be soon). I imagine this release will have the exact same Pinewood restoration and most of the extras, but hopefully a better video encode being the Inception BD's compression wasn't too great (but Second Sight's encode is the worst, like Shout 2013 bad and worse than Gregory's Girl).

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

In case anybody else was tempted by the low price (and cool black case) of the UK version, I just confirmed that it does not work in my US player.

When I bought it, the database said that Regions A and C were untested. I have updated the database to indicate that it does not work in Region A.

Second Sight's BDs are a gamble in regards of discs being region ABC or locked to B, despite the cases mentioning the complete opposite. I know for a fact that their The Changeling, Flight of the Navigator, and 2014-15 pressings of Gregory's Girl are indeed region free, despite saying opposite on the case and having "region code mismatch" menus within the disc's file structure. Other SS titles like Super Mario Bros 1993, Return of the Living Dead, and the majority of licensed titles from the likes of larger studios including MGM, are definitely locked to B as the cases accurately mention.

[Magic Dusty]

This film is a masterpiece. The best live-action Cinderella after the 1965 one. It really is lush and classy. It has great settings and costumes! I mean, some of the costumes should be better in material, like the men's costumes, and design, like the foreign women's costumes, but with the gorgeous costumes including Cinderella's rose-like one, a very memorable Fairy Godmother, stepmother, and King, some beautiful songs like "Once I Was Loved" and "Suddenly It Happens", magical directing, and a joyous soul, it is a sumptuous, delightful treat. If only more songs were great and Mary Poppins level, and the leads have more character and relationship to them, but otherwise it's, like I said, a masterpiece.

By the way, there already was plenty of morality in the Perrault and Grimm's versions of the story, so Disney moralizing the Perrault version, which it was heavily based on, is no different.