This first sound film strip of Lewis Carroll's literary classic can be seen as a B-movie attempt even by the standards of the time, but the film was definitely shot on a very low budget. The unknown actors, the still inexperienced director and the incomplete craftsmanship behind the scenes are undermined in their effect by the madness of the visual design, because: The costumes and scenery are, also due to the often taken frontal shots and the interspersed songs, today probably the Stuff little devils were made of. Creepy masks, grotesque and not just cheap-looking backdrops, as well as the facial expressions of the leading actress Ruth Gilbert, consistently take the viewer on a historical-cinematic journey through time in images that could be recycled in places into nightmare sequences of modern films today. It's a pity, of course, above all, the severely slimmed down version of the original novel, which hardly gives the actors and those working in the background air to breathe original air. In principle, one has to state that hardly a book page was left unturned to squeeze this story into just over 50 minutes of film. This film is above all interesting, due to its historical side effects, it - and above all its promo pictures - triggered a real Alice hype in the then cosmos of theater and cinematic acting. However, Bud Pollard's version of the story itself could not benefit from this long-term effect and in cinematic fashion this picture finds its long-term effect above all through the nature of the shots and the crazy and terrifying costumes. If you plan to write a book about the history of the Carroll film adaptations, you should take a look at this film, because the strip has its place in this series. But looking in for fun would not do justice to this period photograph and such a project would only be very promising if you use historical glasses with lenses cast from a love of cinema. All in all a piece of contemporary history, but paradoxically not a big hit for the cinema itself.
Review of Alice in Wonderland
