Ella Cinders was a newspaper comic started in 1925. The premise of the comic is identical to that of the movie.
IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016822/Yes, the entire story is deliberately worked off the Cinderella story, though the birds don't gouge out the eyes of the evil step-sisters here. There are jokes referring to this peppering the film, so it's meant to be obvious and funny. Overall, the plot is simple enough to keep you entertained for 51 minutes. One could call this half parody and half satire.
Colleen Moore was a good choice for this role as she already sported the perfect haircut for the role. Throughout, she perfectly acts out the little mannerisms that are needed to bring life to this role, especially with her adventures that happen along the way. Ella gets her ear pulled by the evil step-mother at one point, and at another point Lloyd Hughes uses his ice tongs to sort-of cuff her arms behind her in a surprise prank. I also imagine it took some work to get the cross-eye seen just right, as it required the same trick Buster Keaton used in THE PLAYHOUSE, but here there are apparent jumps. From start to finish, Colleen has fantastic reactions to every situation.
The supporting cast more-or-less isn't too great and mostly requires being either (1) annoying or (2) overly ham-fisted. This is by design in the nature of satire, and the actors add no life to the roles which really just require a direct performance. While a particular character type or talent is required for the roles, anyone with that talent could have done it. What a pill some of those characters were!
The Indian who grows increasingly annoyed with Ella is played by none other than Daniel Simmons a.k.a. Chief Yowlachie, a real Native of Puyallup heritage who even lived on the Yakima reservation. His career consisted entirely of playing... Native Americans. The other cameo was by E.H. Calvert, who was a long-time actor and already 62 when this was filmed!
Now, let's talk the real reason we're here: Harry Langdon. This was the next released film with Harry Langdon in it, as this was a First National production. As a result, Harry is the only real name actor, let alone comedy actor, to show up in this film, when Ella walks onto the set. Harry acts fully in character and works Ella's need to escape as though it were part of the scene. His part is only two minutes, but it's {unfortunately} the funniest part of the film.
Unfortunately, the worst part of the film happens right at the end when Waite Lifter gets all dopey-headed (after being the tough and actually not-dumb guy who stands up for Ella the entire film before this point) and kidnaps her from the set of a film!