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The Unfinished Dance (1947) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   135 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 28% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Paul Morand (story)
Myles Connolly (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Unfinished Dance on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
19 September 1947 (USA) more
Genre:
Plot:
Meg, a young ballet student, idolizes the school's top ballerina, the shallow Ariane Bouchet. Meg is... more | add synopsis
Awards:
2 wins more
User Comments:
O'Brien's Most Accomplished Performance more (12 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Margaret O'Brien ... 'Meg' Merlin

Cyd Charisse ... Mlle. Ariane Bouchet
Karin Booth ... La Darina
Danny Thomas ... Mr. Paneros
Esther Dale ... Olga
Thurston Hall ... Mr. Ronsell
Harry Hayden ... Murphy
Elinor Donahue ... Josie (as Mary Eleanor Donahue)
Connie Cornell ... Phyllis
Ruth Brady ... Miss Merlin
Charles Bradstreet ... Fred Carleton
Ann Codee ... Mme. Borodin
Gregory Gaye ... Jacques Lacoste (as Gregory Gay)
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Ballerina (USA) (working title)
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Runtime:
101 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #12101)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was Danny Thomas' film debut. more
Movie Connections:
Remake of La mort du cygne (1938) more
Soundtrack:
Symphony No. 2 more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
14 out of 14 people found the following comment useful.
O'Brien's Most Accomplished Performance, 16 July 2006
8/10
Author: aimless-46 from Kentucky

Even if it had turned out very badly, "The Unfinished Dance" would have been an extraordinary film. Back in the late 1940's, making a large budget film was actually a more corporate decision than it is today. Which makes you wonder how something that is a weird mix of "The Red Shoes" and a pre-teen "Crime & Punishment" was ever approved for production.

Fortunately things turned out very well and for today's viewers the film's uniqueness is not the only reason to watch it. Most likely it was intended as a vehicle to showcase nine year old Margaret O'Brien's acting and dancing talents. O'Brien was an extremely hard working and motivated child actress, and "The Unfinished Dance" is the most accomplished of her many solid performances. She really gets to demonstrate her range, moving between her standard self-parodying cuteness and a convincing demonic side that should be quite a nice surprise to first-time viewers.

There are some extremely slick ballet scenes, with Cyd Charisse and Karin Booth (if it is not Booth's actual dancing they did a seamless job of matching close-ups and master shots). The Swan Lake scene is especially effective with the stage floor covered in mirrors to simulate the surface of the lake.

Little Meg Merlin (O'Brien) worships the featured dancer Ariane Bouchet (Charisse) at her ballet school. When guest dancer La Daria (Booth) displaces her for the season, Meg and her friend Josie (a very young Elinor Donahue) conspire to sabotage her performance by turning off the stage lights in mid-dance. Things go horribly wrong when Meg throws the wrong switch. La Daria suffers a career ending injury. Meg and Josie promise to keep Meg's involvement a secret.

This gives O'Brien the whole second half of the film to play the Raskolnikov role, as she is torn between satisfaction that her idol has reclaimed the top spot in the company and guilt because of the unintended consequences of her actions. The guilt becomes too much to bear when La Daria becomes her instructor and demonstrates far more interest in Meg's dancing than her idol Bouchet ever did.

"The Unfinished Dance" has a more contemporary shot selection than the standard 1940's-50's film. The story benefits from many close-ups of O'Brien's face, with the use of reaction shots more frequently than I can recall in any other film from this time period. O'Brien's expressiveness is nicely showcased and she is certainly up to the challenge.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

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