After the success of the live 1957 Cinderella on CBS (with Julie Andrews), the network decided to produce another television version. The new script hewed closer to the traditional tale, although nearly all of the original songs were retained and performed in their original settings. Added to the Rodgers and Hammerstein score was "Loneliness of Evening", which had been composed for South Pacific but not used.
Score
Rodgers and Hammerstein's lush orchestrations—'In My Own Little Corner' is a sleeper classic.
Acting
Ginger Rogers brings genuine gravitas to throwaway queen lines.
Costume
That transformation dress—78 minutes of runtime, zero minutes of subtlety.
Director
Charles S. Dubin
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the most-watched TV musical in history at the time, with 60 million viewers—roughly 1 in 3 Americans tuned in.
Rodgers and Hammerstein both died before this aired; it became a posthumous tribute when CBS buried it in February against stiff competition.
US
