The Red Shoes

Beloved by cinephiles and dance fans alike, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Red Shoes (1948), inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, has been called the greatest ballet film ever made. Moira Shearer makes her screen debut as the ambitious young ballerina Vicky Page, whose story is entwined with those of two other artists—musician Julian Craster (Marius Goring) and company director and impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Julian composes the music for the title work, which Boris produces to showcase Vicky's extraordinary talent, but when the gorgeous redhead falls in love with Julian, Boris forces her to make an impossible choice, with tragic consequences. While the dance sequences are among the most beautiful ever seen in a motion picture, the drama is also potent as it explores the arduous journey taken by dancers working their way up through the corps, all the while capturing the enormous physical and creative effort required to mount a production. A loving and lavish Technicolor classic, this sumptuous Criterion Collection edition mastered from the 2009 restoration by UCLA and the Film Foundation is flawless—especially the Blu-ray version—boasting rich and deep colors, along with a sharp and stable image. Bonus features include an introduction on the restoration by filmmaker Martin Scorsese, audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie (featuring archival interviews with Goring and Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese), a 2009 interview with editor Thelma Schoonmaker Powell (the director's widow), stills galleries (with behind-the-scenes photos and items from Scorsese's personal collection of memorabilia), storyboards, audio recordings of Jeremy Irons reading both the original fairy tale and excerpts from the novelization of The Red Shoes, and a booklet. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (S. Axmaker)