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Does it really work?" says Willa (Snow-white) as she watches Chief Tonka, the red-headed "Chief of the Pootiepows" mix his magic formula for the "elixir of life." "It can do lots of things," says the evasive Tonka, "If you believe it can." And so it does. Traveling with Tonka, and Billy, last of the dancing Buggs, and the mysterious Alfonzo, Willa learns to sell illusions too. But even as she learns to love her motley companions, she is moving toward the inevitable confrontation with her evil stepmother. Will her new-found friends be able to protect her? Certainly, in this Shakespeare-haunted fable, "things are not what they seem".

Tom Davenport

Tom Davenport

Tom Davenport

Willa joins a traveling medicine show to escape her evil step- mother.

Tom Davenport's latest production in his Brother's Grimm series is this stylish remake of 'Snow White,' set in early-twentieth century America. While warily warm at the outset, the relationship between beautiful, young Willa and the older Regina, a famous stage actress who had married Willa's late father, deteriorates, setting the stage for the older actress's spiral into jealous madness. Willa escapes Regina's revenge, joins a medicine show and its three odd showmen, and, in her travels, comes across her (eventual) "prince charming" -- a movie producer on his way to California. The acting is superb, with parts convincingly portrayed, often with a telling glance or body position. Davenport's use of light and camera angles reflects the darkness of the original tale; this production, however, is not dark, for its is sprinkled with humor. There is a murder and a fiery death, but the effective editing allows the mind to imagine rather than the eyes to see too much. An excellent addition to the filmmaker's folktale series, it will be enjoyed by both older children and adults