Snow White (1987 film)
Snow White is a 1987 American musical/fantasy film based on the classic 1812 fairytale and released as part of the "Cannon Movie Tales" series. The film was released straight to video. In August 2005 it was released on Region 1 DVD by MGM.
Snow White | |
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Directed by | Michael Berz |
Produced by | Menahem Golan Yoram Globus |
Written by | Michael Berz |
Based on | Snow White published 1812 by the Brothers Grimm |
Starring | Diana Rigg Sarah Patterson Billy Barty Nicola Stapleton |
Music by | Arik Rudich |
Cinematography | Amnon Salomon |
Edited by | Moshe Avni John S. Smith |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Cannon Films |
Release date | 1987 (US) |
Running time | 83 minutes |
Country | Israel United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $41,316,184 |
Plot
The film opens with a handsome young prince traveling through the forest in winter with his men. In a forest glen, the prince finds Snow White lying in a glass coffin. The seven dwarfs arrive and tell the Prince of Snow White's story through flashback.
A courageous King and his fair Queen rule their kingdom well. One winter's day while sewing with her maids, the Queen accidentally pricks her finger with her needle, and a single drop of blood falls on the snow outside her windowsill. The King declares they will have a child with hair as black as ebony, cheeks as red as blood, and skin as white as snow. The Good Queen eventually gives birth to a daughter, whom she names Snow White, but dies shortly after her child is born.
Some years later, the king marries again. However, the new queen (Diana Rigg) is evil and vain and jealous of Snow White (Nicola Stapleton). When her magic mirror tells her that Snow White is now the fairest in the land, the Evil Queen orders a huntsman (Amnon Meskin) to take Snow White into the forest and kill her, and to bring back her liver as proof of her death. During a hunting trip, the huntsman succeeds in taking Snow White away from her father, but Snow White, realizing her stepmother's plan to destroy her, manages to escape into the forest where she finds a cottage belonging to seven kindly dwarfs - Iddy, Biddy, Kiddy, Diddy, Fiddy, Giddy and Liddy - who allow her to stay with them. The King is heartbroken when he is told that Snow White had been eaten by wild animals, and later he is killed in battle.
Years later, Snow White (Sarah Patterson) grows into a beautiful young maiden. When the Evil Queen asks the magic mirror "who is the fairest one of all", she learns that Snow White is still alive. The Evil Queen attempts to kill Snow White three times. First, she disguises herself as a gypsy woman and laces up Snow White in a tight bodice, only for the dwarfs to cut the lace with scissors. The second time, she disguises herself as an Asian comb seller and gives Snow White a poisoned comb, only for the dwarfs to remove the comb from her hair. Finally, the Evil Queen disguises herself as an old peddler woman and offers Snow White a poisoned apple. Snow White resists at first, but relents when the Evil Queen cuts the apple in half so they may share it. Snow White eats the poisoned half of the apple and collapses. The dwarfs are unable to revive her, and place her inside a glass coffin.
The film returns to the present, where the dwarfs allow the Prince to take Snow White to a proper resting place. When Snow White is being transported, the coffin accidentally falls off the wagon due to a tree falling down by a snowstorm, causing the piece of poisoned apple to dislodge from Snow White's throat, and she awakens. The Prince is enchanted that Snow White magically revived herself and asks her to marry him, and she accepts.
Invitations to the wedding are sent throughout the land, and the Evil Queen receives one as well, leaving the magic mirror into concluding that the Prince's bride is the fairest in the land. Enraged, the Evil Queen smashes her mirror, which causes her to age rapidly. She rushes to the church in time to see that the bride is Snow White, and then disintegrates into ashes before heading back to the carriage. Snow White and the Prince are married and live happily ever after.
Cast
- Diana Rigg as The Evil Queen, Snow White's evil stepmother
- Sarah Patterson as Snow White
- Nicola Stapleton as Young Snow White
- Billy Barty as Iddy
- Mike Edmonds as Biddy
- Ricardo Gil as Kiddy
- Malcolm Dixon as Diddy
- Gary Friedkin as Fiddy
- Arturo Gil as Giddy
- Tony Cooper as Liddy
- Doug Sheldon as The King, Snow White's father
- James Ian Wright as The Prince
- Dorit Adi as the First and Good Queen, Snow White's mother
- Julian Chagrin as the Magic Mirror
- Amnon Meskin as the Huntsman
- Azara Rapoport as the other King, the Prince's father
References
External links
- Snow White at IMDb
- Snow White at AllMovie
- Snow White at the TCM Movie Database