The Turning Point

Name: The Turning Point
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 1977-11-14
Duration: 1 h 59 min
Rating: 6.8
Cast: Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine, Tom Skerritt, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Leslie Browne

The generations change. But the choices remain the same.

The Turning Point (1977)

1:59 (119 min)

Drama, Romance

United States

6.8/10
6 438

—
no scores

6.6/10
71

6.8/10
5600

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All about film

Photo 21

Actors and characters

Photo 21

Production

Hera Productions

Release date

14 November 1977

Revenue

$25 933 445

Director

Herbert Ross

Scenario

Arthur Laurents

Composer

John Lanchbery

Producer

Actors

Emma

Deedee

Wayne

Yuri

Emilia

Adelaide

Antoinette Sibley

Sevilla

Starr Danias

Carolyn

All actors and roles (10)

Short description

As young dancers, they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee left the stage for marriage and motherhood, while Emma would become an international ballet icon. But when Deedee's teenage daughter is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star, the two women are forced to confront the choices they've made, the resentments they've hidden and the emotional truths they must face at the turning point.

What's left behind the scenes

Grace Kelly was on the board of directors of 20th Century Fox at the time, and a plot summary was sent to her. According to director Herbert Ross, she liked the idea and even said she would return to cinema to star in the film. She then showed the script to her husband, Prince Rainier III of Monaco, but he did not want her to return to acting.
In one scene, Anne Bancroft's (1931-2005) character splashes a drink from a glass into the face of the character played by Shirley MacLaine. This scene was rehearsed many times with director Herbert Ross—right up to the moment of splashing the glass's contents. During rehearsals, Bancroft simply placed the glass on the counter (without splashing anything each time), and the actors continued the scene. When everything was ready, the scene was filmed in a single take, where Bancroft splashed the contents of the glass into MacLaine's face instead of simply placing the glass on the counter, as MacLaine had become accustomed to. MacLaine did not expect such a thing from what she thought was a rehearsal, so the surprised expression on her face was not acted at all.
Of the two lead actresses—Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft—only MacLaine knew how to dance. In all the dance scenes involving Bancroft, she actually only struck the appropriate poses, while everyone else did the dancing.
The script was based on the true story of friends of the film's director, Herbert Ross, and his wife, former ballerina Nora Kaye (1920-1987).