Artist The Red Shoes

Perhaps the most towering achievement of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger—the great filmmaking team behind The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp and Black Narcissus, among other classics—1948’s The Red Shoes brought a new level of sophistication and modernity to the musical genre. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, the film stars the luminous Moira Shearer as a gifted dancer who flowers under the tutelage of powerful ballet impresario Anton Walbrook, but falls in love with Marius Goring, the young and charismatic composer of the title production. Life and art intertwine beautifully and tragically in a long, colorful, and superbly choreographed dance sequence.

Updated 10/28/2010