The Red Shoes
Short description
The Red Shoes centres on Victoria Page, an aspiring dancer who joins the company of the imperious impresario Boris Lermontov and rises to become its leading ballerina. When a new ballet based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale of enchanted shoes becomes a triumph, Victoria falls in love with its composer, Julian Craster. Lermontov, who demands that his artists put the company before everything else, opposes the relationship, and Victoria finds herself torn between her devotion to dance and her love for Julian.
The film was written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, whose credited partnership had already produced The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Matter of Life and Death and Black Narcissus before this 1948 release, and would continue with The Tales of Hoffmann and The Battle of the River Plate. Moira Shearer plays Victoria, with Marius Goring as Julian and Adolf Wohlbrück as Lermontov; the cast of twenty-four also includes Robert Helpmann, Léonide Massine and Albert Bassermann.
Running 133 minutes, the British production was a substantial commercial success, taking roughly 11 million dollars worldwide. Reception is notably strong: on IMDb it holds 8.1 out of 10 from about 43,000 votes, and on TMDB 8 out of 10 from around 771 votes, while a critics' rating of 9.4 out of 10 from 65 reviews places critical approval well above even the favourable audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The ballet scene took 6 weeks to film, involving over 120 paintings by Hein Heckroth (1901-1970).
- On the first day of filming, Moira Shearer (1926-2006) got sunburned, and a large blister formed on her back. She then injured her neck while jumping out of a window during filming, and a seemingly simple scratch became infected. Shearer was periodically suspended on safety harnesses for up to 8 hours at a time, with wind machines directed at her the entire time.
- The search for an actress to play Victoria Page proved difficult for directors and screenwriters Michael Powell (1905-1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902-1988). Ideally, they needed a ballerina with acting skills, someone impossible to take your eyes off. J. Arthur Rank (1888-1972) was keen to break into the American market and dreamed of casting an American actress in the role – such as Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) or Angela Lansbury – whom he tried to 'borrow' from Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studios with which those actresses were under contract. However, they were delighted when they discovered Moira Shearer, who at the famous Sadler's Wells theatre was second only to Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991). Shearer initially refused, but changed her mind a year later; before then, they had to film scenes with actresses like Ann E. Todd (1931-2020) and Hazel Court (1926-2008).
- The film went far over budget, and the company that financed and was to distribute it had little faith in its commercial success. There were attempts to avoid a premiere, or to show it only during late screenings exclusively in London. The company (The Rank Group) wasn't even willing to make a copy of the film for the American market. However, over time the film began to gain popularity, and the company realized it might ultimately be a hit. Once a copy for the American market was made, the film ran in a non-Broadway cinema for 110 weeks. This was enough to convince Universal Pictures to acquire the US distribution rights, which they did in 1951.
- The search for an actress to play Victoria Page proved difficult for directors and screenwriters Michael Powell (1905-1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902-1988). Ideally, they needed a ballerina who possessed acting skills and was impossible to take your eyes off of. J. Arthur Rank (1888-1972) very much wanted to break into the American market, so he dreamed of seeing an American actress in this role – for example, Lauren Bacall (1924-2014) or Angela Lansbury, whom he tried to "borrow" from Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, respectively, with whom these actresses had contracts. But they were delighted when they discovered Moira Shearer, who at the Sadler's Wells theater was second only to Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991). However, Shearer initially refused them. She only changed her mind a year later, and before that they had to film with actresses like Ann E. Todd (1931-2020) and Hazel Court (1926-2008).
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
