The Red Shoes (1948)

A talented young ballerina (Moira Shearer) and a 40ish college student composer (Marius Goring) are given career breaks by the difficult head (Anton Walbrook) of a great ballet company. Soon young Victoria must choose between the man she loves and becoming a great ballerina. Can’t do both. That’s all explained in detail.

Despite the film’s initial lack of success, Moira Shearer became a sensation and parlayed that success into six more movies. One of which, fans may remember, was director Michael Powell’s other masterpiece flop: Peeping Tom. You remember, the film that ruined his career. All he did here was almost bankrupt the studio with a film that would take forever to break even. Had it not been for film nerd Martin Scorsese, The Red Shoes may have been forgotten.

Fans may remember Anton Walbrook as the husband in the 1940 version of Gaslight. Born in Germany, he high-tailed it out when the Nazis moved in. It seems he was 50% Jewish is 100% gayish. Nazis weren’t his crowd. Many of the ballet company members were actual dancers and not actors. This lent a certain air of authenticity.

The Red Shoes is a fantastic looking film. Still very early in the Technicolor era, it was heralded as its best example. The photography, the cinematography, and the performances were spot on and dazzling to look at. The story parallels that of the Hans Christian Andersen’s fable of the same name, that was also performed on screen near the end of the second act. It is clear why audiences of the day did not take to it. It is unconventional in tone especially for 1948. But it is a wonderful film to watch and I will again. AMRU 4.

“You cannot have it both ways. A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love can never be a great dancer. Never.”