Ella Cinders: Not Just Another Cinderella Story

Categories: Did You Know|Published On: October 17, 2003|Views: 5|

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Though the fairy tale of Cinderella has been reworked ad infinitum over the
years, the early 20th century saw one of the most unique tellings ever to emerge
in 1925 comic strip Ella Cinders. Creators Charles Plumb and Bill Conselman
created an eccentric stepchild with dark, short-cropped hair and wide set eyes
in Ella. Her stepmother and stepsisters are, of course, evil (Lotta and Prissy
Pill). And readers tend to empathize with the sprightly heroine
immediately.

She became so popular that in just one year, producer John
McCormick and director Alfred E. Green, decided to bring her story to the big
screen.

The quirky and incomparable Colleen Moore was cast in the
role–perhaps for her impeccable comic timing and quite possibly for her
bankability (In 1926, Moore was voted America’s number one box office attraction
in a poll of motion picture theatre owners).

But what made this
Cinderella so different than the ones before her and the ones who followed?
First, she isn’t beautiful–and yet, she wins a contest judging beauty. She is
clumsy, awkward and flawed, yet she wins her “Prince Charming” (a local ice
delivery man named Waite Lifter–who turns out to be a famous college football
star and heir to a fortune).

Not only are the plot twists more
down-to-earth than the lofty fairy tale with which most are familiar, but the
Ella Cinders film interprets the successful strip silently. The
silent film era, like no other screen epoch since, allows for its characters’
personalities to emerge solely through the power of expression. Moore is
masterful in breathing life and energy into Cinderella. Here, she isn’t a
passive participant, assisted by a fairy godmother. She’s a plain jane who
proactively pursues her own fate.

Though the film’s plot was critically
panned, the perception of “Cinderella” was forever altered by the emergence of
Ella Cinders.


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