The Magic Shoes
Encyclopedia
The Magic Shoes is a 1935 Australian short film based on the fairy tale Cinderella
. It features the first screen performance by Peter Finch
and Helen Hughes, daughter of former Prime Minister William Hughes
and was the first dramatised movie to be shot at the National Studios, built to make The Flying Doctor
(1936). The film failed to find a distributor and was not a financial success.
Today The Magic Shoes is considered a lost film
. However 33 production and publicity stills relating to the film were recently discovered.
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
. It features the first screen performance by Peter Finch
Peter Finch
Peter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
and Helen Hughes, daughter of former Prime Minister William Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
and was the first dramatised movie to be shot at the National Studios, built to make The Flying Doctor
The Flying Doctor
The Flying Doctor is a 1936 Australian-British drama film directed by Miles Mander and starring Charles Farrell, Mary Maguire and James Raglan. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia operate in the Australian Outback...
(1936). The film failed to find a distributor and was not a financial success.
Today The Magic Shoes is considered a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
. However 33 production and publicity stills relating to the film were recently discovered.
External Links
- The Magic Shoes at National Film and Sound ArchiveNational Film and Sound ArchiveThe National Film and Sound Archive is Australia’s audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national collection of audiovisual materials and related items...
- includes copies of stills