Three Wishes for Cinderella

Director: Václav Vorlíček

1973 / 83min / DCP

A Yuletide classic from the Eastern Bloc, Vorlíček’s Czechoslovak-East German co-production is a mischievous and thoroughly charming re-telling of the familiar Cinderella story which has the same cult cache in much of continental Europe that Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life enjoys in the United States. Boasting ravishing costumes by Theodor Pištěk and Günter Schmidt, picture book-worthy scenery in Saxony and the Bohemian Forest, and delightful additions to the text (a pet owl?), Three Wishes for Cinderella is proof positive that even commies aren’t immune to Christmas cheer.