Lewis Carroll - The Annotated Alice

The Lewis Carroll Society of North America is a nonprofit organization that encourages the study of the life, work, times, and influence of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. The society was founded in 1974 and has grown from several dozen members to several hundred, drawn from across North America and from abroad. Current members include leading authorities on Carroll, collectors, students, general enthusiasts, and libraries. The society is making a concerted professional effort to become the center for Carroll activities and studies.

The society meets twice a year, usually in the fall and in the spring, at the site of an important Carroll collection in the eastern United States. Meetings have featured distinguished speakers and outstanding exhibitions.

The society maintains an active publications program, administered by a distinguished committee interested in publishing and assisting in the publication of materials dealing with the life and work of Lewis Carroll. Members receive the societys newsletter (the Knight Letter ), chapbooks in the societys series ( Carroll Studies ), and other special publications. The Wasp in a Wig was first published as part of this series.

Further information can be obtained by writing to The Secretary, Ellie Luchinsky, Lewis Carroll Society of North America, 18 Fitzharding Place, Owings Mill, Maryland 21117.

Englands older Lewis Carroll Society was founded in 1969. It publishes a periodical The Carrollian (formerly titled Jabberwocky ), edited by Anne Clark Amorand Bandersnatch, a newsletter. For information write to The Secretary, Sarah Stanfield, Acorns, Dargate, Near Faversham, Kent, England ME 13 9HG.

The Lewis Carroll Society of Canada publishes White Rabbit Tales, a newsletter edited by Dayna McCausland, Box 321, Erin, Ontario, Canada N0B 1T0.

The Lewis Carroll Society of Japan issues a newsletter in both English and Japanese. The societys secretary is Katsuko Kasai, 3-6-15 Funato, Abiko 270-11, Japan. Carroll has a large following in Japan, with about sixty Japanese editions of the Alice books in print.

David Schaefer, a Carroll scholar who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, owns a great collection of Alice- related films. He has kindly provided the following listings.

Newsreel

1932 Alice in U.S. Land. Paramount News. Newsreel of Mrs. Alice Liddell Hargreaves, eighty, arriving for the hundredth-anniversary celebration of Carrolls birth. Talks of her trip down the river with Mr. Dodgson. Her son, Caryl Hargreaves, and her sister Rhoda Liddell, are identifiable. Filmed aboard the Cunard Lines Berengeria in New York Harbor, April 29, 1932. Running time: seventy-five seconds.

Feature Films

1903 Alice in Wonderland. Produced and directed by Cecil Hepworth. Filmed in Great Britain. Alice is played by May Clark. The very first Alice film. Alice shrinks and grows. The film has sixteen scenes, all from Alices Adventures. Running time: ten minutes.

1910 Alices Adventures in Wonderland (A Fairy Comedy). Produced by the Edison Manufacturing Company, Orange, New Jersey. Alice is played by Gladys Hulette. The film has fourteen scenes, all from Alices Adventures. Running time: ten minutes (one reel). The film was made in the Bronx. Gladys Hulette later became a Path star.

1915 Alice in Wonderland. Produced by Nonpareil Feature Film Company, directed by W. W. Young, picturized by Dewitt C. Wheeler. Alice is played by Viola Savoy. Most of the scenes were filmed on an estate on Long Island. The film as originally made contained scenes from Alices Adventures and Through the Looking-Glass. Running time: fifty minutes (five reels).

1931 Alice in Wonderland. Commonwealth Pictures Corporation. Screen adaptation by John F. Godson and Ashley Miller. Produced at the Metropolitan Studios, Fort Lee, New Jersey. Directed by Bud Pollard. Alice played by Ruth Gilbert. All scenes are from Alices Adventures. The first sound Alice. The thump of the camera can often be heard.

1933 Alice in Wonderland. Paramount Productions. Produced by Louis D. Leighton, directed by Norman McLeod, screenplay by Joseph J. Mankiewicz and William Cameron Menzies. Music by Dimitri Tiomkin. Alice played by Charlotte Henry. An all-star cast of forty-six includes: W. C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty, Edward Everett Horton as the Mad Hatter, Cary Grant as the Mock Turtle, Gary Cooper as the White Knight, Edna May Oliver as the Red Queen, May Robson as the Queen of Hearts, and Baby LeRoy as the Deuce of Hearts. Scenes from Alices Adventures and Looking-Glass. Running time: ninety minutes. In looking-glass fashion Charlotte Henry started her movie career as the star of this film and worked her way down to lesser roles.

1948 Alice au pays des merveilles (Alice in Wonderland). Produced in France at Victorine Studios by Lou Bunin. Directed by Marc Maurette and Dallas Bowers; script by Henry Myers, Edward Flisen, and Albert Cervin. Marionette animation by Lou Bunin. Alice played by Carol Marsh. Voices for puppets by Joyce Grenfell, Peter Bull, and Jack Train. The prologue, which shows Lewis Carrolls life at Christ Church, has Pamela Brown as Queen Victoria and Stanley Baker as Prince Albert. Color. Produced in French and English versions. Exclusive of the prologue, all the characters are puppets except Alice, who is a live adult. Disney tried to stop production, distribution, and display of the film.

1951 Alice in Wonderland. Walt Disney Productions. Production Supervisor, Ben Sharpsteen. Alices voice by Kathryn Beaumont. Animation. Color. Sequences from Alices Adventures and Looking-Glass. Running time: seventy-five minutes. Poorly received when produced, but has made a great deal of money for Disney since.

1972 Alices Adventures in Wonderland. Executive Producer, Joseph Shaftel. Producer, Derek Home. Director, William Sterling. Musical Director, John Barry. Lyricist, Don Black. Alice played by Fiona Fullerton. Peter Sellers is the March Hare, Dame Flora Robson is the Queen of Hearts, Dennis Price is the King of Hearts, and Sir Ralph Richardson is the Caterpillar. Color. Wide screen. A lavish production, visually beautiful, slow moving. The Tenniel illustrations were faithfully followed. Sequences from Alices Adventures and Looking-Glass. Running time: ninety minutes.

1985 Dreamchild. The 80-year old Alice (Alice Hargreaves) is played by Coral Browne. Her young paid companion by Nicola Cowper. The young Alice by Amelia Shankley and Lewis Carroll by Ian Holm. A fictional story inspired by Alices visit to the United States in 1932.

1976 Alice in Wonderland, an X-Rated Musical Comedy. Alice is played by Kristine DeBell.

1988 Neco z Alenky. Directed and written by Jan Svankmajer of Czechoslovakia.

Alice Sequences in Other Feature Films

1930 Puttin on the Ritz. Produced by John W. Considine, Jr., directed by Edward H. Sloman. Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Joan Bennett is in a six-minute Alice in Wonderland dance sequence from this film.

1938 My Lucky Star. 20th Century Fox. Sonja Henie is an Alice on skates along with many other characters from the book, all on the ice. Approximately ten-minute sequence.

Cartoons

1933 Betty in Blunderland. Cartoon directed by Dave Fleischer. Animation by Roland Crandall and Thomas Johnson. Betty Boop follows Wonderland and Looking-Glass characters from a jigsaw puzzle via subway station down the rabbit hole. Running time: ten minutes.