"Alice Through The Looking Glass, Judy Rolin TV special made in 1966"

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1966 - ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

TV movie musical (USA) 1966

Alice played by
Judy Rolin

Directed by
Alan Handley

Alice (Judi Rolin) is bored. Her Father is entertaining guests and she goes into the library to find something to do. Suddenly the Red King appears and persuades her to go through the Looking Glass, where she has lots of exciting adventures and meets all sorts of characters such as Humpty Dumpty and the evil Jabberwock.

A TV musical with high production values a memorable set of original and entertaining songs but which wanders a little too far away from Carroll's original work for some purists. However, it's full of energy and fun and highly recommended entertainment for all the family.
The otherwise American cast includes two "Brits". Robert Coote (The Red King) was in the long-running American version of "My Fair Lady" on Broadway. Roy Castle (The Jester) was a versatile light comedian who could dance, sing and play a variety of musical instruments. A non-smoker he was ironically cut down in the prime of life by cancer caused by exposure to cigarette smoke in the many clubs he played.

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udi Rolin, just 20 at the time, is a terrific Alice, with a fine singing voice.
Of the starry cast, Ricardo Montalban brings his usual effortless charm to the White King, Nanette Fabray is hilarious as his scatterbrained wife, singing "I Wasn't Meant to Be a Queen", and Jimmy Durante brings his "schnozzle" persona to Humpty Dumpty with good effect.
The most delightfully over-the-top performance is by Jack Palance,

wearing a wonderfully elaborate spangled winged costume, as the Jabberwock. His singing performance in this musical comedy came as a great surprise for those who would normally associate him with murderous gangster-type roles. Mind you, the Jabberwock in this production is a murderous gangster type, so maybe it's not such a surprise after all.

The music and songs are by Moose Charlap and arranged by Don Costa. The production is chock full of songs in true "musical" style. They don't have much to do with Lewis Carroll but in this case they're just right.
An album of the songs was released at the time and was a Grammy-winner for best children's album.
The production itself was nominated for an Emmy for best children's special.

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