The Red Shoes (1948)

Star Rating: 3

Length of FIlm: 133 minutes
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Leonide Massine, Albert Bassermann, Ludmilla Tcherina, & Esmond Knight
Oscars: Hein Heckroth, Arthur Lawson (art direction), Brian Easdale (music)
Oscar nomations: Mmichael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (best picture), Emeric Pressburger (screenplay), Reginald Mills (editing)






The Red Shoes is the ultimate ballet movie. It focuses manly on the dancing, but of course, there's a love triangle between the three main characters; Victoria Page (Moira Shearer), Boris Lemontov (Anton Walbrook), and Julian Craster (Marius Goring). Boris is the owner and director of the ballet company, he meets Victoria at a party, and her Aunt got Victoria an audition. In the meantime, composer Julian Craster got his chance. They base a ballet after Hans Christian Anderson's "The Red Shoes" about a girl who can't take off her shoes and dances till she dies.

Anton Walbrook- Doesn't Sean Penn look like him?!

Marius Goring

Moira Shearer

Boris finds out about Victoria and Julian, and so he fires her. He then tells Victoria it's either dancing or Julian... she picks Julian. They marry and move to London where Julian composes an opera. Boris allows Victoria to come back to dance in the revival of The Red Shoes. Julian finds out, and storms into her dressing room.

The cinematography in this movie is beautiful, same with the dancing and music. I will admit that it didn't keep my attention, 100%. I got bored. Be prepared for slow parts, but the ending is tragically good!