It’s no secret that the Hollywood Comet loves musicals.
In 2010, I revealed I had seen 400 movie musicals over the course of eight years. Now that number is over 600. To celebrate and share this musical love, here is my weekly feature about musicals.
This week’s musical:
Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966) – Musical #829
Studio:
NBC
Director:
Alan Handley
Starring:
Ricardo Montalban, Agnes Moorehead, Jack Palance, Jimmy Durante, Nanette Fabray, Robert Coote, Tom Smothers, Dick Smothers, Judi Rolin, Richard Denning, Roy Castle, Iris Adrian, Chanin Hale, Jackie Joseph, Donna Walsh
Plot:
Based on the Lewis Carroll story, while her father (Denning) is hosting a dinner party, Alice (Rolin) is bored. Her father tells her to go set up the chess board for them to play together later. Suddenly, Alice is invited through the mirror in the room to a backwards room, where the chess pieces come to life, including The Red King (Coote), The Red Queen (Moorehead), The White King (Montalban), and The White Queen (Fabray). Alice also meets other strange characters, like the villainous Jabberwock (Palance) and Humpty Dumpty (Durante).
Trivia:
• Aired on Nov. 6, 1966, on NBC.
• Bob Mackie and Ray Aghayan won an Emmy for their costume design for this TV special.
Highlights:
• When it ended
• Modern day setting at the beginning with Richard Denning
Notable Songs:
• None were very good.
My review:
I had high hopes going into this TV special of “Alice in Wonderland.” What a cast! But boy, was I thankful when it was over!
What could have been fun and engaging was irritating and beat you over the head with awful songs and … a laugh track? Why was there a laugh track? It was so bad and the laughter was when things weren’t funny?
Based on the Lewis Carroll story, while her father (Denning) is hosting a dinner party, Alice (Rolin) is bored. Her father tells her to go set up the chess board for them to play together later. Suddenly, Alice is invited through the mirror in the room to a backwards room, where the chess pieces come to life, including The Red King (Coote), The Red Queen (Moorehead), The White King (Montalban), and The White Queen (Fabray). Alice also meets other strange characters, like the villainous Jabberwock (Palance) and Humpty Dumpty (Durante).
Newcomer Jodi Rolin stars in the title role of Alice. What appealed to me as the film began was that Alice’s reality was in contemporary 1966 time. Her jumper was a 1960s style, her hair obviously a fall, and her father was having a fashionable dinner party. I was then charmed that her father was dashing Richard Denning.
What could go wrong? Then Alice goes through the looking glass, Robert Coote appears as the Red King, saying unfunny things and the laugh track begins.
When Agnes Moorehead as the Red Queen, Ricardo Montalban as the White King and Nanette Fabray as the White Queen appear, it doesn’t improve – it actually gets worse.
It may seem strange for a musical review to complain about song after song. When the songs are good, like in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS or OKLAHOMA, the song overload isn’t a problem. But when they are terrible, it feels like you’re being beat over the head with music. You’ll notice I didn’t list notable songs, because I didn’t like any of them.
The actors did their best with what they had, but the only good performance came from Jack Palance as the Jabberwock. He was well cast.
I’m honestly amazed that this won an award for costume design. The White and Red King and Queen costumes looked like recycled tires stacked on top of one another.
What can I say – I can’t recommend this, but I’m disappointed because for some reason I thought it would be good. But then, most “Alice in Wonderland” film and TV adaptations aren’t great!
If you’d like to see it for yourself, it’s uploaded online. Laugh track and all.
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