Ballet Shoes (2007)

The story of three orphan girls (Pauline, Petrova, and Posy), adopted by an eccentric explorer, Great Uncle Matthew, and his niece Sylvia, in 1930s London.

Director:

Sandra Goldbacher

Writers:

Noel Streatfeild (novel), Heidi Thomas (screenplay)

Stars:

Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, Lucy Boynton

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emilia Fox	...	Sylvia Brown
Victoria Wood	...	Nana
Emma Watson	...	Pauline Fossil
Yasmin Paige	...	Petrova Fossil
Lucy Boynton	...	Posy Fossil
Richard Griffiths	...	Great Uncle Matthew
Marc Warren	...	Mr. Simpson
Lucy Cohu	...	Theo Dane
Gemma Jones	...	Dr. Jakes
Harriet Walter	...	Dr. Smith
Eileen Atkins	...	Madame Fidolia
Heather Nicol	...	Winifred Bagnall
Mary Stockley	...	Miss Jay
Teresa Churcher	...	Clara
Skye Bennett	...	Young Sylvia

Storyline

Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil live with Sylvia Brown, their guardian. Money is tight and as the story opens, three boarders - a garage owner, a retired English professor, and a dance teacher - come to stay. Theo Dane, the dance teacher, has the girls accepted at her school by the formidable Madame, and the three go on the stage to help raise money. Each discovers her talents - Pauline as an actress, Petrova in fixing engines, and Posy as a dancer.

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Plot Keywords:

dance | ballet | 1930s | talent | money problems | 

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Taglines:

Dreams do come true...

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for smoking

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [UK] Official site [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 December 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Ballet Shoes

Filming Locations:

Bloomsbury, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Granada Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emma Watson's first non-Harry Potter film.

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Goofs

The evening before Petrova and Pauline's early morning audition, Nana says she can't make new dresses for them, because she has no fabric. Petrova offers to pay for new fabric, and so we see the girls attend the audition in their new dresses. But how did Nana have time to buy the fabric, fit and sew two dresses overnight?

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Quotes

[Miss Jay meets Pauline and Winifred after their Alice auditions]
Miss Jay: Well done, you two. Right, Pauline is to play Alice
[pauses as girls gasp]
Miss Jay: and Winifred is to be engaged as understudy.
Pauline Fossil: [starts to say] What?
Winifred: [interrupts] When I finished my dance, people clapped! Nobody clapped her, there was just silence!
Miss Jay: Dance is important, but Pauline looks right for Alice.
Winifred: She looks right for everything, she always will!
[looks at Pauline and murmurs]
Winifred: Pretty face... blonde hair...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Ballet Shoes: Interview with Emma Watson (2007)

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Soundtracks

I Got Rhythm
(uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin

User Reviews

Pleasantly surprised

Having loved the book growing up, I was bound to see this. I had bought the 1975 BBC version and found it to be absolutely terrible, as it completely mishandled the adaptation. What is surprising is that the 1975 version ran longer and could be argued as being more faithful to the book. Having said that, this version of Ballet Shoes captures the spirit of the story much better. I loved Emilia Fox's Sylvia and the entire cast did very well. I had been a little apprehensive of Emma Watson as Pauline since I'd never seen her as anything but Hermione from the Harry Potter series, but I was pretty happy with the performance after all.

I won't recap the story here, but basically; I love the book, and the movie brought out the reasons why I loved it, so that's good enough for me. I hope you all enjoy it too.