Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a phantasmagoric marriage of cinema and opera in this one-of-a-kind take on a classic story. In Jacques Offenbach’s fantasy opera The Tales of Hoffmann, a poet dreams of three women—a mechanical performing doll, a bejeweled siren, and the consumptive daughter of a famous composer—all of whom break his heart in different ways. Powell and Pressburger’s feverishly romantic adaptation is a feast of music, dance, and visual effects, and one of the most exhilarating opera films ever produced.
| Hoffmann | Robert Rounseville |
| Stella/His Ladylove/Olympia | Moira Shearer |
| Nicklaus | Pamela Brown |
| Cancer | Edmond Audran |
| Councillor Lindorf/Coppelius/Dapertutto/Dr. Miracle | Robert Helpmann |
| Luther | Meinhart Maur |
| Kleinzach/Cochenille | Frederick Ashton |
| Andreas | Philip Leaver |
| Nathaniel | John Ford |
| Spalanzani/Schlemil/Franz | Léonide Massine |
| Bank clerk | Alan Carter |
| Giulietta | Ludmilla Tchérina |
| Pitichinaccio | Lionel Harris |
| Antonia | Ann Ayars |
| Crespel | Mogens Wieth |
| Director | Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger |
| Written, produced, and directed by | Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger |
| Based on the opera by | Jacques Offenbach |
| English libretto by | Dennis Arundell |
| Musical director | Sir Thomas Beecham |
| Cinematography | Christopher Challis |
| Art director | Arthur Lawson |
| Editing | Reginald Mills |
| Associate producer | George Busby |
| Assistant director | Sydney Streeter |
| Choreography | Frederick Ashton |
| Assistant choreographers | Alan Carter and Joan Harris |
| Recorded by | Ted Drake |
| Camera operator | Freddie Francis |
| Production design | Hein Heckroth |
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
By November 30, 2009
The following essay was originally written for Criterion’s website in 2005, on the occasion of the DVD release of Powell and Pressburger’s The Tales of Hoffmann. We have posted it here to . . . Read more »
By November 21, 2005
Why would a filmmaker simply film an opera? Many admirers of Michael Powell’s have assumed that the decision to make The Tales of Hoffmann, in 1950, was in some way an admission by Powell and . . . Read more »
By June 16, 1992
Of the 18 movies made by the filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, none was as personally and artistically fulfilling as The Tales of Hoffmann. This dazzling screen . . . Read more »
By November 21, 2005
Why would a filmmaker simply film an opera? Many admirers of Michael Powell’s have assumed that the decision to make The Tales of Hoffmann, in 1950, was in some way an admission by Powell and . . . Read more »
By June 16, 1992
Of the 18 movies made by the filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, none was as personally and artistically fulfilling as The Tales of Hoffmann. This dazzling screen . . . Read more »
By June 03, 2016
The Tales of Hoffmann, dirs. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (1951) Over one glorious weekend in May, the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York, revived a theater-going experience . . . Read more »
March 31, 2016
This week, The University of Wisconsin–Madison Cinematheque will present a special screening of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s dazzling 1951 film The Tales of Hoffmann, adapted from . . . Read more »
By November 30, 2009
The following essay was originally written for Criterion’s website in 2005, on the occasion of the DVD release of Powell and Pressburger’s The Tales of Hoffmann. We have posted it here to . . . Read more »
By November 21, 2005
Why would a filmmaker simply film an opera? Many admirers of Michael Powell’s have assumed that the decision to make The Tales of Hoffmann, in 1950, was in some way an admission by Powell and . . . Read more »
By June 16, 1992
Of the 18 movies made by the filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, none was as personally and artistically fulfilling as The Tales of Hoffmann. This dazzling screen . . . Read more »
1 Disc
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