The Red Shoes (1948)

A young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina.

Directors:

Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Writers:

Hans Christian Andersen (fairy tale), Emeric Pressburger (original screenplay),

Stars:

Marius Goring, Jean Short, Anton Walbrook

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marius Goring	...	Julian Craster
Jean Short	...	Terry
Gordon Littmann	...	Ike
Julia Lang	...	A Balletomane
Bill Shine	...	Her Mate
Léonide Massine	...	Ljubov (as Leonide Massine)
Anton Walbrook	...	Boris Lermontov
Austin Trevor	...	Prof. Palmer
Esmond Knight	...	Livy
Eric Berry	...	Dimitri
Irene Browne	...	Lady Neston
Moira Shearer	...	Victoria Page
Ludmilla Tchérina	...	Boronskaja (as Ludmilla Tcherina)
Jerry Verno	...	Stage-Door Keeper
Robert Helpmann	...	Ivan Boleslawsky

Storyline

Under the authoritarian rule of charismatic ballet impressario Boris Lermontov, his proteges realize the full promise of their talents, but at a price: utter devotion to their art and complete loyalty to Lermontov himself. Under his near-obsessive guidance, young ballerina Victoria Page is poised for superstardom, but earns Lermontov's scorn when she falls in love with Julian Craster, composer of "The Red Shoes," the ballet Lermontov is staging to showcase her talents. Vicky leaves the company and marries Craster, but still finds herself torn between Lermontov's demands and those of her heart.

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Plot Keywords:

ballet | ballerina | dancer | composer | shoe | 

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Taglines:

Between her art ... and her dreams ... was her heart

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English French Russian

Release Date:

6 September 1948 (UK)

Also Known As:

De rode schoentjes

Filming Locations:

Royal Opera House, Bow Street, Covent Garden, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Archers, The, Independent Producers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film went massively over budget and the Rank Company (which financed it and was to release it) had little faith in its commercial potential. It tried to bury the film by not giving it a premiere (backer J. Arthur Rank walked out of its first performance) and by just letting it quietly show at late screenings at a cinema in London. Rank wasn't even prepared to strike a print for the American market. Slowly, however, audiences started to pick up on the film and Rank realized that it might have a potential breakout hit after all. Indeed, when an initial print was made for the US, it played at an off-Broadway theater for an unprecedented 110 weeks. That was enough to convince Universal to take up the distribution rights for the US, which it did in 1951.

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Goofs

The length of Julian's cigarette changes dramatically (gets longer and then gets much shorter than he could smoke it down to in the short time between shots) while he's playing the piano for Vicky in Lermontov's office.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[holding doors closed]
Doorman: They're going mad, sir. It's the students.
[From outside]
Julian Craster: Down with tyrants!
Manager, Covent Garden: All right, let them in.

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Connections

Referenced in Black Swan (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Les Sylphides"
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Liszt
Arranged by Gordon Jacob
Played by uncredited symphony orchestra

User Reviews

One of the few films impossible to over-praise

The film isn't THAT closely related to Hans Christian Andersen's story; but it would be a good idea to read the story before seeing the film. It's one of Andersen's better stories, anyway.

Another minor note: if no other consideration will sway you, see `The Red Shoes' for a perceptive look the position of the ballet composer relative to that of the dancers. For Powell and Pressburger it's no more than a diverting side issue, but it's one of the things that especially interested me. If you look at advertisements for ballet productions today, you'll notice that the composer's name is NEVER printed - even if the ballet is called `Cinderella' and the public has no way of working out whose score is being used. It puts the composer in his place, no doubt. Yet musicians at the ballet are in the habit of thinking that they're the most important people there.

I'm on their side. I happen to loathe classical ballet as such. `Swan Lake' strikes me as a lovely score disfigured by people who insist on dancing to it. Yet `The Red Shoes' makes me put all of this aside. Indeed, it would be fair to say that I simply CAN'T dislike ballet while watching the film - which is especially odd, considering some of the things it does to people.

So, yes, if `The Red Shoes' can have this effect on ME, of all people, it's surely one of the best films ever made. I can't agree at all with the people who describe the film as `melodrama' or `camp'. (The latter charge I scarcely even understand.) The story is what it is and it's told at the most realistic and sincere level appropriate. The characters who act theatrically (NOT melodramatically) are all creatures of the theatre, and have not spent not just their days but their lives in Lermontov's troupe. If you want a more understated view of things then watch the musicians. To put in a word for one of them, Brian Easdale's source music is superb: GOOD music of a kind that an English composer like Craster might well be expected to write. It's clear that Easdale wrote Craster's compositions first, and then constructed the rest of the score around them, rather than vice versa.