DREAMCHILD Movie Review

An unexpected delight. Dreamchild, written by Dennis Potter (The Singing Detective) and directed by Gavin Millar, is a fantasy about a real person whose fame stemmed from being someone else's fantasy. The central portion of the story is set in New York in the 1930s, when 80-year-old Mrs. Alice Hargreaves (Coral Browne) arrives from England to celebrate the centennial of the birth of the Rev. Charles Dodgson (Ian Holm), known to the world as Lewis Carroll. As a child, we learn, Mrs. Hargreaves was Dodgson's model for the Alice of Alice in Wonderland. The trip jogs Mrs. Hargreaves's memory, and we get to spend—through flashback—time with little Alice and Hargreaves at the time of his inspired creation. But all her memories are not happy, and though the film could hardly be classified as an expose, it deals frankly and compassionately with Dodgson's strong feelings for the child. Coral Browne is quite wonderful as the grown Alice, and her scenes of interaction with characters from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland—designed and performed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop—are surprisingly touching. Ian Holm is riveting as Dodgson, and Amelia Shankley is more than adequate portraying Alice as a child. Dreamchild sneaks up on you, and will stay with you a long time.

NEXT STOP … Pennies from Heaven, The Singing Detective

1985 (PG) 94m/C GB Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Jane Asher, Nicola Cowper, Amelia Shankley, Caris Corfman, Shane Rimmer, James Wilby; D: Gavin Millar; W:Dennis Potter; C: Billy Williams; M:Max Harris, Stanley Myers. VHS MGM