The Red Shoes in 35mm
The Red Shoes in 35mm
In this “visually ravishing masterpiece” (BFI), real-life dancer Moira Shearer makes her film debut in this adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale as Vicky Page, a ballerina torn between her passion for dance and her adoration of a composer. Nominated for Best Picture, Story, and Film Editing, it won Oscars for the score by Brian Easdale (Black Narcissus, Peeping Tom) and the dazzling art direction from Hein Heckroth and Arthur Lawson. Vicky’s bright red ballet slippers contrast starkly with her dress, which transforms from pure white to dirty grey as her dance consumes her, reflecting her exhaustion and despair.
DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. WITH: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann. 1948. 136 min. UK. Technicolor. English. 35mm. Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in association with the BFI, The Film Foundation, ITV Global Entertainment Ltd., and Janus Films. Restoration funding provided by the Golden Globe Foundation, The Film Foundation, and the Louis B. Mayer Foundation. Print courtesy of The Film Foundation Conservation Collection at the Academy Film Archive.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
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