The Red Shoes:
Dancing for Your Life
By July 20, 2010
“Why do you want to dance?” “Why do you want to live?” A question followed by another question stands at the beating heart of The Red Shoes. It’s an Read more »
- United Kingdom
- 1948
- 133 minutes
- Color
- 1.33:1
- French, English
SYNOPSIS: The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, now dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Boris Lermontov | Anton Walbrook |
| Julian Craster | Marius Goring |
| Victoria Page | Moira Shearer |
| Ivan Boleslawsky | Robert Helpmann |
| Ljubov | Leonide Massine |
| Ratov | Albert Basserman |
| Boronskaja | Ludmilla Tcherina |
| Livy | Esmond Knight |
| Professor Palmer | Austin Trevor |
| Dimitri | Eric Berry |
| Lady Neston | Irene Brown |
Credits
| Director | Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger |
| Written, produced, and directed by | Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger |
| Production design | Hein Heckroth |
| Editing | Reginald Mills |
| Music composed, arranged, and conducted by | Brian Easdale |
| Art direction | Arthur Lawson |
| The "Ballet of the Red Shoes" choreography by | Robert Helpmann |
| The part of the shoemaker created and danced by | Leonide Massine |
| The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by | Sir Thomas Beecham |
| Cinematography | Jack Cardiff |
Disc Features
- New high-definition master from the award-winning 2009 digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Introductory restoration demonstration with filmmaker Martin Scorsese
- Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese
- Profile of “The Red Shoes,” a documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team
- Video interview with director Michael Powell’s widow, Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, from the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, in which she discusses Powell, the film, and the restoration
- Audio recording of actor Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from Powell and Pressburger’s novelization of The Red Shoes
- Collection of rare publicity stills and behind-the-scenes photos
- Gallery of items from Scorsese’s personal collection of The Red Shoes memorabilia
- The “Red Shoes” Sketches, an animated film of Hein Heckroth’s painted storyboards, with the Red Shoes ballet as an alternate angle
- Audio recording of Irons reading the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Red Shoes”
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic David Ehrenstein and a description of the restoration by UCLA film archivist Robert Gitt
From the CurrentView the Current »
Film Essays
The Red Shoes:
The Red Shoes
By May 24, 1999
Before The Red Shoes, there were films with dance numbers. After it, there was a new medium which combined dance, design, and music in a dreamlike spectacle. Hollywood musicals Read more »
