Cinderella (1957 TV Special; Color Version)



On March 31, 1957, CBS televised a live musical adaptation of the fairy tale Cinderella. It boasted songs by legendary Broadway songwriters Rodgers and Hammerstein, the latter of whom also wrote the script. Julie Andrews starred in the title role, along with such actors as Jon Cypher as Prince Christopher, Edie Adams as the Fairy Godmother, Ilka Chase as the stepmother, and Howard Lindsay and Dorothy Stickney as King Maximillian and Queen Constantina. The special set a record as the most-watched TV program up to that point. However, it never played on network television again.

CBS did not re-televise Cinderella because they did not record it on videotape. Viewers on the East Coast saw it live in color, while those in the West saw a black and white kinescope. Even though CBS could not air the original performance again, it did spawn two remakes, which both proved very successful. The 1965 version survives today on full-color videotape, while the 1997 production was filmed for prosperity's sake. There have also been several stage productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, including one that premiered on Broadway in 2013.

Today, the only known surviving copy of original Cinderella is the black and white kinescope. It finally aired on TV again in 2004, as an episode of the PBS program Great Performances. DVDs of the kinescope became available soon after. One of the bonus features is a photo gallery containing some color photos. However, color copies of the production itself remain unavailable.