Ella Cinders (Colleen Moore) is Ma Cinders' (Vera Lewis) stepdaughter and treated exactly as anyone familiar with Perrault or the Grimms would expect. She has one friend: Waite the iceman (Lloyd Hughes), but he isn't able to do much for her except providing moral support. The first part of the film follows the familar Cinderella story fairly closely. The ball is obviously not given by a king, but rather by the local council in order to announce the winner of a beauty contest: The winner wins a ticket to Hollywood and the chance to become a movie star - and, surprise, the winner is Ella, who beats her nasty step sister. Having arrived in Hollywood, she discovers the contest was put on by a couple of fraudsters and the studio has no idea. Colleen Moore is delightful as always, and I liked the supporting cast. What I also appreciated was that the plot deviates from the standard Cinderella formula: Ella does eventually meet a sort of prince, but not before she has started a successful career of her own, without any help. On the downside, this 'prince' is introduced in a very abrupt and unconvincing way: He is Waite the iceman, who for some reason has always been the son of a millionaire. And the idea that in order to marry she has to give up her fledgling Holywood career obviously (and unneccessarily) plays to the preferences of the more conventional 1920s audiences. Otherwise: A very nice picture - not at the level of Moore's best work, but enjoyable enough.
Review of Ella Cinders
