Step forward and take a bow Mr K.More,Mr M.Hordern,Miss L.Bowers,Miss A.Crosbie, Dame Edith and Miss M.Lockwood,for your combined efforts in turning a saccharine Sherman Brothers musical from a pumpkin to something a little more substantial."The slipper and the rose" suffers from the rather basic defect of having no memorable songs whatsoever. Some of the lyrics are "clever" in a Cole Porter - ish sort of way,but the melodies are distinctly of the "ho - hum" variety.The dancing - from "Mary Poppins" out of "Oliver" - is no more than adequate ,with the honourable exception of those members of The Royal Ballet who appear as various rodents and reptiles in a sequence redolent of their "Tales of Beatrix Potter" production. Mr R.Chamberlain strides about in long boots like "Dandini" in the pantomime,his performance verging at times on the arch.I waited - sadly in vain - for him to for him to stand,arms akimbo,and toss back his head before laughing manfully and asking members of the audience onstage to take part in a sing - song. Miss G.Craven is a little too mousy as Cinderella and she is not sufficiently eye - catching as Princess Incognito to have caused such a furore at the Palace Ball. Unfortunately Mr C.Gable makes absolutely no impact as the Prince's companion and it is only the remarkable cast of British thesps that Mr Forbes gathered round him rather like a security blanket that save the "The slipper and the rose" from children's TV movie status. I must single out Miss A.Crosbie,an actress not particularly well - represented on film.She is beautiful,smart and has a wonderful speaking voice.She does not normally do cockney,scouse or geordie - the staple of Brit TV casts - and I doubt if she'll ever be in a Mike Leigh movie,but she shines here as the Fairy Godmother.Unfortunately her performance totally eclipses that of Miss Craven in all of their scenes. She is quite captivating and - along with Mr K.More - the main reason for watching this movie. There is a rather moving scene near the end where Mr More, as the Chamberlain,has to tell Cinderella that she cannot marry the prince because she is a commoner.It takes just a couple of minutes screen time but Mr More - quietly spoken and with a minimum of facial gestures - turns this brief moment into something true,speaking with genuine compassion and knowledge of human frailty,the burden of power resting uneasily on his shoulders.I would be very surprised if Mr Forbes didn't have a bit of a blub at that. "The slipper and the rose" is really two movies;the Cinderella story told competently,without great directorial sweeps,with adequate performances and dull songs and the serio - comic tale of an embattled kingdom surrounded by predator - nations waiting for one false move to justify war.This is told with wit and affection and performed by actors who play off each other with the ease and apparent spontaneity born only of years of experience and directed so well that they hardly seem to have been directed at all.They shine like a good deed on a dull day.
