Snow White (1916)
*** (out of 4)
Early version of the classic Grimm fairytale has the wicked Queen (Dorothy Cumming) ordering Berthold (Lionel Braham) to kill Snow White (Marguerite Clark) but he lets the future Princess in on the plan. He orders her to stay away and she finds shelter with the seven dwarfs but when the Queen finds out what has happened she goes out for revenge. According to legend, Walt Disney remembered seeing this film when it played his hometown and it left such an impression on him that he decided to make it his first feature. Seeing this film today it's easy to see why it was such a hit back in the day even though it's doubtful many kids of today would bother sitting through it. It's also interesting to note that the now forgotten Clark was 33-years-old when she played this role, which meant she was doing the same type of thing that Mary Pickford was doing, which was an adult playing children. I must admit that this was the first time I had seen anything from Clark and she was quite impressive. I didn't even realize she was as old as she was until I read the liner notes for the film and I was shocked to see the age. She did a remarkable job at pulling off this child role and not for a second did you not believe anything she was doing. I thought she did a fine job at capturing the spirit of the role, which was certainly the most important thing. Cumming was also very good in the role of the Queen and Braham also stood out as a likable character and performance. I think most people will be put off by the first ten or so minutes as these are clearly the weakest in the film. I thought it took a bit too long for things to really get going but once they hit the dwarfs house things really started to fly. The "look" they gave the dwarfs was another interesting thing. Elements of the Cinderella tale are thrown in and those just familiar with the Disney version are certainly going to notice a few differences. It's doubtful modern audiences will enjoy this but those who enjoy silent cinema should get a kicked out of it. It's certainly far from perfect but the 63-minute running time goes by quite fast and makes for some good entertainment.
