Cinderella in the cinema: Which actress from 1899 to the present day became the most magical fairytale heroine

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This tale has become one of the most beloved stories in world cinema, which has been filmed the most times. Classic versions, original author's interpretations, modern interpretations played on the same plot: a simple girl from a poor family turns into a princess. Which of the actresses most convincingly got used to the image of the fairytale heroine is up to you to judge.

Films about Cinderella began to be filmed almost simultaneously with the invention of cinema. In 1899, the French 6-minute silent film "Cinderella" was released, based on a popular theatrical production and illustrations by Gustave Doré for the fairy tales of Charles Perrault. This version of the tale was the first foreign film bought for American distribution. There he was shown in color, for which it was necessary to hire artists who hand-painted each frame. The main role in this film was played by French actress Bleette Bernon. This picture became one of the first films in the history of cinema.

In 1914, posters for the new film "Cinderella" appeared, on which it was written: "" In the 52-minute film adaptation of the fairy tale, the main role was played by the brightest silent film star of the 1910s. Mary Pickford, who has become a true national symbol for Americans, and her name was written on posters in the same large print as the title of the film.

The main Soviet Cinderella was called the Belarusian actress Yanina Zheimo, who performed this role in the film by Nadezhda Kosheverova and Mikhail Shapiro, written by Yevgeny Schwartz. This fairy tale was approved for production at Lenfilm just a few weeks after the victory in the Great Patriotic War, and was released in 1947. Janina Zheimo began acting in films long before that, but it was the role of Cinderella that brought her all-Union popularity.

At that time, she was already 37 years old, and she was not immediately approved - the director was offered to take a young beautiful ballerina for this role, but screenwriter Yevgeny Schwartz insisted on the candidacy of Janina Zheimo. He convinced the director that the main thing in this heroine is not beauty, but tenderness, charm, naivety and the ability to arouse empathy in the audience. In addition, the miniature actress looked much younger than her years - due to hormonal disruption, she stopped growing at the age of 14, and her height remained at 148 cm. However, after her resounding success, Zheimo received almost no new proposals from directors and soon left with her husband, Polish director Leon Jeannot, to his homeland. For the past 30 years, she has not acted in films and has been doing housework.

In 1960, the famous director Alexander Rowe, who shot the most beautiful fairy tales in Soviet cinema, staged a film-performance based on Sergei Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella. The part of the main character in this production was performed by the soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Raisa Struchkova - the main understudy of Galina Ulanova.

One of the most popular interpretations of this plot, arranged by Czech writer Bozena Nemcova, is the Czech-German film Three Nuts for Cinderella, starring 19-year-old actress Libuše Shafrankova. She is still called one of the most beautiful, touching and truly fabulous heroines, and in the Czech Republic this film was recognized as the best fairy tale of the 20th century. The role of Cinderella was the hallmark of Shafrankova, who then became one of the leading Czech actresses.

In 1976 g.the British musical "The Shoe and the Rose" was released, which was first filmed and then staged on the stage of the theater. The role of Cinderella in it was played by Irish actress Gemma Craven. The film received high marks from critics and was nominated for two Oscars for Best Song and Best Music.

In the Hollywood comedy Maid to Order, the authors offered an alternative modern version of the old tale. In it, the fairy godmother punishes her goddaughter from a wealthy family for unworthy behavior and sends her to another reality, where she works as a maid in someone else's house until she realizes her mistakes. American actress Ellie Sheedy played the main role in this film.

An even more extravagant interpretation of "Cinderella" came out in 1989. The German director shot a "gothic" and bloody fairy tale according to the Brothers Grimm, where Cinderella is helped not by the fairy godmother, but by the spirit of her deceased mother, and the half-sisters cut off their toes to squeeze them into the coveted shoe. The main role in the film was played by the German actress Roswitha Schreiner.

Another unusual interpretation of the famous plot was the American musical "Cinderella" in 1997, where all the main roles were played by black actors. The main role was performed by Brandy Norwood, the audience saw Whitney Houston as the fairy godmother, and Whoopi Goldberg as the stepmother. Interestingly, Whitney Houston was initially offered the role of Cinderella, but she felt that at 33 it was too late to play the young heroine.

One of the most commercially successful projects was the Hollywood film "The Story of Eternal Love" in 1998, starring the famous actress Drew Barrymore. In this version, Cinderella does not expect help from outside, but takes the initiative into her own hands and decisively and boldly meets all difficulties. The film grossed about $ 100 million.

In 2002, the Russian-Ukrainian television musical "Cinderella" was released, in which the leading roles were performed by popular pop artists Nikolai Baskov, Valery Leontyev, Larisa Dolina, Lolita Milyavskaya, Verka Serduchka, and others, and Yulia Mavrina got the main role. The premiere took place on December 31, 2002, and since then the musical is often shown on New Year's holidays.

One of the most recent adaptations of the Cinderella tale was a 2015 Disney movie starring Lily James. Luxurious outfits, great music, modern computer technology and a budget of $ 95 million provided truly fabulous box office receipts: the film grossed about $ 200 million in the United States, and about $ 10 million in Russia.

Another fabulous image that various actors in cinema often tried on is Koschey the Immortal: Which of the actors became the most terrible fairytale villain.