In the house of her late father in the town of Roseville, Ella Cinders works for her shrewish stepmother, Ma, and two stepsisters, Prissy Pill and Lotta Pill, who are beloved in the town but abusive toward Ella. She finds support from the local iceman, Waite Lifter. The Gem Film Company has a contest in which the winner gets an all-expense-paid trip to Hollywood and a film role. Stealing an acting book from Lotta, she works on facial expressions. A photograph is needed to enter, so Ella spends three nights babysitting to raise $3 for the photo session.

The photographer unwittingly takes a picture of her looking cross-eyed at a fly on her nose which turns out to be the photo entered in the contest. Entrants must go to a Town Hall ball, but Ella's stepmother and stepsisters won't allow her to go. Waite sees her crying on the front steps and tells her he will take her to the ball. She says she has nothing to wear, so he convinces her to use one of her stepsisters' dresses. At the judges' table, her stepsisters react violently when they see the dress. The embarrassed Ella flees the ball, losing one of her slippers. She heads for an employment agency hoping for a new start, only to be placed right back with Ma, who vows to punish her severely.

Later, the judges come to the house and tell Ella that she is the winner because they were amused by the cross-eyed photo and were looking at someone capable of comedy (much to Ella's disappointment at first, and Ma's fury). Ella heads for Hollywood, where she is disappointed to discover the contest was a fraud. Fearing what would happen if she tried to return to Roseville, she decides to stay in Hollywood and break into the industry as an actress the hard way; after substantial rejection and failed attempts to literally break into a studio lot, she succeeds, landing a contract to play the lead role in a rags-to-riches story similar to her own life.

Waite turns out to be football hero and wealthy heir George Waite, who runs to Hollywood, sweeps Ella off her feet on the set, and marries her. The two have a child and live happily ever after.

Portions of the film take place on the sets of a movie studio, and so many regulars at First National Studios appear in the film. The film's director, Alfred E. Green, appears in the film as the director of the film being shot as Ella runs through the studio. Harry Langdon also makes a cameo in the film as a famous film comedian who is being directed by a young Frank Capra.^[4]

The character of George Waite/Waite Lifter was a parody of real-life football star Red Grange, who likewise played at the University of Illinois and worked as an iceman during the offseason.^[5]

This was the last time that Moore and Hughes starred together in a film, having previously played the leads in The Huntress (1923), Sally (1925), The Desert Flower (1925) and Irene (1926).^[6]

Copies of Ella Cinders are preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Library of Congress.^[7]

Ella Cinders is currently held in the public domain.^[8] It has since been released on DVD by Sunrise Silents, Reel Classic DVD, Reel Classic DVD, and Grapevine Video.^[9]

• Ella Cinders at IMDb  
• Ella Cinders at AllMovie
• Ella Cinders at the Internet Archive