![]() Though she went on to have an impressive career in Britain on the stage and in television, The Slipper and the Rose proved to be her most substantial film role. By the time he appeared in The Slipper and the Rose he was a familiar performer in British films and television, and his American stardom was expected to be an asset for the film.Īccording to publicity for The Slipper and the Rose, Irish-born singer and actress Gemma Craven was cast as Cinderella after a year-long search, during which producers considered eighty-five actresses for the role. When Doctor Kildare ended, Chamberlain was determined to prove his versatility and did stage work in musicals and dramas, moving to England in the late 1960s. During the run of the series he also became something of a teen idol when he had a pop hit with the song "Three Stars Will Shine Tonight," based on the theme music from the show. The Slipper and the Rose begins with the Prince talk-singing "Why Can't I Be Two People," an amusing ditty bemoaning his royal duty to marry for dynastic and political reasons instead of for love.īlond and handsome Richard Chamberlain had become a star in the 1960s, playing the title role in the television series Doctor Kildare. Looking for a new approach, the Shermans decided to tell the story from the Prince's point of view. ![]() At first they demurred, since they felt that Rodgers & Hammerstein had already written the definitive musical version, a television special which starred Julie Andrews, in 1957. Frost brought the project to Richard and Robert Sherman and asked them to write the screenplay as well as the score. Produced by talk show host David Frost The Slipper and the Rose is based on the French version by of the tale written by Charles Perrault in 1697, and the film is set in that era, with the elaborate costumes, powdered wigs, and furnishings reflecting the elegant excess of the time. In spite of the high production values and music and lyrics by the legendary Sherman Brothers (who wrote songs for Mary Poppins and other Disney hits), the film was a flop in the United States, although it was a hit in Great Britain. One of the most sumptuous was the extravagant, no-expense-spared original musical, 1976's The Slipper and the Rose, a British production with a terrific, mostly-English cast, plus American star Richard Chamberlain as a dashing, singing Prince Charming. There have been many movie versions of the Cinderella story, some of them memorable, others less so but in spite of the sure-fire material, not all of them enjoyed box office success.
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