Click here to buy posters! For the first 60 minutes, this is a commonplace backstage melodrama, in which tempermental ballerinas replace the more conventional showgirls. Then a superb ballet of The Red Shoes, based on a Hans Andersen fairy tale, is staged with breathtaking beauty out-classing anything that could be done on the stage. It is a colourful sequence, full of artistry, imagination and magnificence. The three principal dancers, Moira Shearer, Leonide Massine and Robert Helpmann, are beyond criticism. Then the melodrama resumes, story being about the love of a ballerina for a young composer thus incurring the severe displeasure of the ruthless Boris Lermontov, guiding genius of the ballet company. Although the story may be trite, there are many compensations, notably the flawless performance of Anton Walbrook, whose interpretation of the role of Lermontov is one of the best things he has done on the screen. Shearer, glamourous redhead, shows that she can act as well as dance, while Marius Goring, polished as ever, plays the young composer with enthusiasm. Other assets that can be chalked up are the wide variety of interesting locations - London, Paris, Monte Carlo, magnificient settings, first class Technicolor and some brilliant musical scores played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Thomas Beacham as conductor. 4 STARS OUT OF 5 OSCARS: Best Colour Art Direction, Score for a Dramatic Picture OSCARS NOMINATIONS: Best picture, Motion Picture Story, Editing the red shoes dvds | videos al pacino | michelle pfeiffer yul brynner | christopher plummer | romy schneider the godfather | the godfather part ii marlon brando | james caan | diane keaton | al pacino laurence olivier | clark gable | vivien leigh | leslie howard | alfred hitchcock | robert montgomery | grace kelly olivia de havilland | humphrey bogart | howard hawks | frank capra | charlie chaplin | lauren bacall | fritz lang jean harlow | greta garbo | ava gardner | audrey hepburn | edward g. robinson | john garfield erich von stroheim | wim wenders | madeleine carroll | marlene dietrich | rita hayworth powell & pressburger dvds powell & pressburger videos the red shoes dvds | videos al pacino | michelle pfeiffer yul brynner | christopher plummer | romy schneider the godfather | the godfather part ii marlon brando | james caan | diane keaton | al pacino laurence olivier | clark gable | vivien leigh | leslie howard | alfred hitchcock | robert montgomery | grace kelly olivia de havilland | humphrey bogart | howard hawks | frank capra | charlie chaplin | lauren bacall | fritz lang jean harlow | greta garbo | ava gardner | audrey hepburn | edward g. robinson | john garfield erich von stroheim | wim wenders | madeleine carroll | marlene dietrich | rita hayworth Page created by: lenin@netcomuk.co.uk Changes last made: 2004