Google Ads
Login | Sign Up

The Red Shoes Overview:

The Red Shoes (1948) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and produced by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger and George R. Busby.

Academy Awards 1948 --- Ceremony Number 21 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Hein Heckroth; Set Decoration: Arthur LawsonWon
Best Film EditingReginald MillsNominated
Best Music - ScoringBrian EasdaleWon
Best PictureJ. Arthur Rank-ArchersNominated
Best WritingEmeric PressburgerNominated
See More Oscar Winners

The Red Shoes BlogHub Articles:

The Red Shoes

By Michael on May 16, 2015 From Le Mot du Cinephiliaque

Note : this review is my contribution to the blogathon My Favorite Classic Movie hosted by Rick at Classic Film & TV Café. The Red Shoes (Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1948) A young ballet dancer is torn between the man she loves and her pursuit to become a prima ballerina. As... Read full article

The Red Shoes (1948)

By Beatrice on Mar 23, 2015 From Flickers in Time

The Red Shoes Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Written by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger from a story by Hans Christian Andersen 1948/UK The Archers/Independent Producers Repeat viewing/Netflix rental #222 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die [Vicky thinks for a shor... Read full article

The Red Shoes, Pied Piper to Aspiring Ballerinas

By Judy on Aug 3, 2014 From Cary Grant Won't Eat You

This post is part of A Shroud of Thoughts’ The British Invaders Blogathon. Check out all the great entries!  Why did this film about the terrible choices a woman must make for her art inspire generations of ballerinas? Every little girl raised on Hans Christian Anderson knows that Karen, the red... Read full article

The Red Shoes (1948)

on Aug 23, 2013 From Journeys in Classic Film

Summer Under the Stars has already seen a director in the spotlight (Otto Preminger and Laura which you can read here).   For today, we’ll look at the directing duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.  The Red Shoes is a swirling, glorious fairy tale of artistic expression and obsessi... Read full article

Film Reviews (Seriously) Redux – The Red Shoes

By ScribeHard on Feb 29, 2012 From ScribeHard on Film

  On September 19, 2011, on a now-defunct personal blog, I published this FR (S) review of Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes .  Given its recent airing on TCM as part of that network’s 31 Days of Oscar celebration, I thought I’d repost it here.  Thanks for reading (or re-re... Read full article

See More The Red Shoes Articles

The Red Shoes Quotes:

No Quote for this film.
The Red Shoes Facts
Emeric Pressburger originally wrote the script in 1937 when producer Alexander Korda was casting around for a project for his wife, Merle Oberon. The intention was that a professional dancer would fill in for Oberon in the dancing scenes. Nothing ever came of it - mainly due to the intervention of the war - and Michael Powell and Pressburger were able to buy the rights for the screenplay back from Korda for £12,000 in 1947. To do this, however, they had to pretend that it was purely for sentimental reasons and not because they wanted to make it into a film. Having worked for Korda before, they both knew that he was a very shrewd businessman and that, if he detected they really wanted the property, he would have raised the price.
Anton Walbrook's character of Lermontov was generally thought to be based on ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the man behind Vaslav Nijinsky. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, however, were more inclined to say that he was a representation of their first main mentor, Alexander Korda.
Technicolor founders Herbert T. Kalmus and Natalie Kalmus considered this film the best example of Three-Strip Technicolor. During the filming, however, Natalie Kalmus often complained that Jack Cardiff wasn't following the rules laid down for Technicolor films and demanded that they re-shoot various scenes. But Michael Powell always backed up Cardiff and they got the film they wanted.
Much to his surprise, Michael Powell had great difficulty persuading Moira Shearer to be in the film. She held out for a year before giving in to him. Shearer herself, however, did not particularly care for Powell. In later years, she described the making of the film as being a terrible ordeal: Powell was distant and aloof and never really gave her much direction; and having to dance for hours on end on concrete floors also physically took its toll on all the dancers, making their legs swell up.
Art director Hein Heckroth was a painter who had never worked as the art director on a film before. He had designed the costumes for previous Archers productions like Black Narcissus. He created a 15-minute "animatic" (filmed storyboard) reel to convey the type of mood and feel his sets would give, which acted as an ideal guide for cinematographer Jack Cardiff.
See More Facts about The Red Shoes >>