This film (made just 37 years after Carroll wrote the book) was made in England at the Hepworth Studios. The studio was run by Hepworth and his wife, and was very much a family business. It is important to remember that most "films" at this point were just short vignettes of a few minutes length. The original of this film clocked in at a little over twelve minutes, which was an extraordinary length (indeed, in the beginning the film was often chopped up into little segments which were sold separately.) As with most early films, it was neglected for decades and at one point presumed lost. A single print was found in the British Film Institute archives, very badly deteriorated. A painstaking restoration took place, including recreating the tinting of the film frames. Even so, over three minutes of the film was irretrievably destroyed, and as you'll see, some parts are very rough indeed.
Alice is played by Mabel Clark, who was the company's secretary (there were no professional actors at Hepworth Studios, all performers were either employees, family or friends.) Cecil Hepworth appears as the Frog Footman, and the versatile Mrs. Hepworth appears as both the White Rabbit and the Queen. Even the family cat appears as the Cheshire Cat.
If the actors lacked polish, the production (for the time) did not. Hepworth insisted that the film recreate the original illustrations for the book by Sir John Tenniel. Elaborate sets and costumes were made. The film was shot on a stage in the small villa that housed the studio and the exterior scenese were shot in the villa's gardens.
These films are best understood by trying to adopt the frame of mind of the original viewer. What to our eyes looks amateurish and mannered, was, for the time, innovative and unprecedented. So take a step back in time and enjoy!
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