The Red Shoes Michael L. Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Screenplay

Producer Alexander Korda had conceived a ballet-themed film in 1934, which he intended to be a biopic about Vaslav Nijinsky.[19] The project never came to fruition, but in 1937, Korda found himself again inspired to write a ballet-themed film as a vehicle for Merle Oberon, his future wife.[19] Korda, along with filmmaker Michael Powell, fashioned a film based on Oberon's looks, but, because she was not a skilled dancer, Korda knew he would need to use a double for any dance sequences.[19] Korda eventually abandoned the project, instead shifting his focus to The Thief of Bagdad (1940).[19]

In 1946, Powell and his filmmaking partner Emeric Pressburger bought the rights to the screenplay Powell had co-written with Korda for £9,000.[19] According to Powell, the original screenplay contained significantly more dialogue and less story.[20]

The character of Boris Lermontov was inspired in part by Sergei Diaghilev, the impresario who founded the Ballets Russes,[21] although there are also aspects about him drawn from the personalities of producer J. Arthur Rank and even director Powell himself.[6] The particular episode in Diaghilev's life that is said to have inspired the characterisation is his seeing the 14-year-old Diana Gould partnering Frederick Ashton in the première of his first ballet, Leda and the Swan. On the basis of this, Diaghilev invited her to join his company, but he died before that plan could come about.[22]

Basis

The Hans Christian Andersen story tells how the orphan Karen's colour blind guardian buys her an inappropriate pair of red shoes for her church confirmation ceremony, but, when the mistake is discovered, forbids her to wear them. She disobeys. A crippled "old soldier" at the church door tells Karen they are dancing shoes. Later, she wears them to a ball, and cannot stop dancing. She dances day and night until an executioner, at her request, amputates her feet; the shoes dance away with them. She lives with a parson's family after that, and she dies with a vision of finally being able to join the Sunday congregation. In this story, the shoes represent "her sin", the vanity and worldly pleasures (implicitly, female sexuality) which distracted her from a life of generosity, piety, and community.

The ballet has three characters: the Girl, the Boy and the Shoemaker. The Boy, danced by Robert Helpmann, is at first the girl's boyfriend; as she dances, he turns into a sketch on transparent cellophane. Later he appears as the living counterpart of the Press, with "Le Jour" written on his forehead ("The Daily") and an alter ego made of folded newspapers, then as the prince in a triumphant Pas de deux/six. Finally, the Boy appears as the village parson; when he unties the red shoes, the girl dies in his arms. The Shoemaker, danced by Léonide Massine, is a diabolical figure far beyond the scope of the "old soldier". Always dancing, he tempts the girl with the shoes, installs them by "movie magic" on her feet, partners her briefly, and generally gloats over her confusion and despair. At one point he leads a mob of "primitive" monsters who surround her, but they elevate her high in a triumphant ballerina pose. At the end, the shoemaker picks up the discarded shoes and offers them to the audience. In the context of the movie, the shoes represent the choice offered by Lermontov to become a great dancer, at the expense of normal human relationships.

Casting

Powell and Pressburger decided early on that they had to use dancers who could act rather than actors who could dance.[23] To create a realistic feeling of a ballet company at work, and to be able to include a fifteen-minute ballet as the high point of the film, they created their own ballet company using many dancers from The Royal Ballet.[24]

In casting the lead role of Victoria Page, Powell and Pressburger sought an experienced dancer who could also act.[25] Scottish ballerina Moira Shearer was recommended by Robert Helpmann, who had been cast in the film as Ivan Boleslawsky, and was also appointed the choreographer of the central ballet sequence; Helpmann had worked with Shearer prior in a production of his ballet Miracle in the Gorbals.[25] At the time, Shearer was beginning to ascend in her career with the Sadler's Wells Dance Company, dancing under Ninette de Valois.[9] Upon reading the screenplay, Shearer declined the offer, as she felt taking a film role would negatively impact her dancing career.[25] She also felt that the screenplay presented a ballet company that was unrealistic, "utterly unlike any ballet company that there had ever been anywhere."[25] She recalled: "Red Shoes was the last thing I wanted to do. I fought for a year to get away from that film, and I couldn't shake the director off."[26]

After Shearer's refusal of the role, American ballerinas Nana Gollner and Edwina Seaver tested for the part, but their acting abilities proved unsatisfactory to Powell and Pressburger.[25] Non-dancers Hazel Court and Ann Todd were briefly considered before Shearer changed her mind, and decided to accept the role with de Valois's blessing.[27] Shearer claimed that de Valois, exasperated by the ordeal, finally advised her to take the role.[26] Powell alternately recounted that de Valois was "more manipulative" in the process, and would vacillate in regard to whether or not Shearer would have a place in the company to return to once filming was completed, accounting for Shearer's alleged protracted contemplation of whether to take the part.[26]

For the role of Julian Craster, the musician with whom Victoria falls in love, Marius Goring was cast.[28] While Goring—at the time in his mid-30s—was slightly too old to play the role, Powell and Pressburger were impressed by his "tact and unselfish approach to his craft."[28] They cast Anton Walbrook in the part of Victoria's domineering ballet director, Boris Lermontov, for similar reasons, as they felt he was a "well-mannered and sensitive actor" who could support Shearer through their emotional scenes together.[28]

The other principal dancers cast in the film included Léonide Massine (who also served as a choreographer for his role as the shoemaker in The Ballet of the Red Shoes), portraying dancer Grischa Ljubov,[29] and Ludmilla Tchérina as dancer Irina Boronskaya; the latter was cast by Powell, who was captivated by her unconventional beauty.[30]

Filming

Filming of The Red Shoes took place primarily in Paris, with principal photography beginning in June 1947.[31] Jack Cardiff, who had shot Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus, served as cinematographer.[32] The shooting schedule ran for approximately fifteen weeks, on a budget of £300,000 (equivalent to £10.39 million or US$13.26 million in 2019)[33].[34] Filming also occurred on location in London, Monte Carlo, and the Côte d'Azur.[35] Some sequences were filmed at Pinewood Studios, including the stage and orchestra pit sequences, which were sets constructed specifically for the film.[36]

"It is the way the film is shot and edited, the number of close-ups, a particular handling of the tools of cinematic technique, that creates the drama; there is more revealed by method than anything inherent in the dramatic context of the scenes."

Critic Adrienne McLean on the film's technical feats[37]

According to biographer Mark Connelly, the shoot was largely copacetic, with the cast and crew having a "happy time" on set.[38] On the first day of the shoot, Powell addressed the cast and crew: "We'll be doing things that haven't been done before, we'll have to work very hard—but I know it's going to be worth it."[38] The shooting of the film's central The Ballet of Red Shoes sequence took approximately six weeks, according to Shearer, who recalled that it was completed in the middle of the production.[39] Powell disputed this, instead claiming that it was the last portion of the film to be shot.[39] Filming the ballet proved difficult for experienced dancers, who were used to performing live ballet, as the filming process required them to spend hours preparing to shoot moments that lasted sometimes only a few seconds.[15] Shearer recalled that the ballet sequence was "so cinematically worked out that we were lucky if we ever danced for as long as one minute."[15]

The shoot overran significantly, totalling twenty-four weeks rather than the planned fifteen, and the final budget ballooned to over £500,000.[a] John Davis, the chief accountant of The Rank Organisation, forced a £10,000 cut to Powell and Pressburger's salaries due to the film going over budget.[38] Because the shoot was extended so far beyond schedule, Powell and Pressburger promised the cast and crew a fortnight's holiday in September.[38]

Choreography and score

Australian ballet star Robert Helpmann choreographed the ballet, played the role of the lead dancer of the Ballet Lermontov and danced the part of the boyfriend. Léonide Massine created his own choreography for his role as the Shoemaker. Brian Easdale composed the original music for the film, including the full ballet of The Red Shoes.[42] Easdale conducted most of the music in the film, except for the Ballet of the Red Shoes, where Sir Thomas Beecham conducted the score and received prominent screen credit. Beecham's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was the featured orchestra for the film.

The score for The Red Shoes was written to "fit the cinematic design,"[43] and completed in an unorthodox manner: Easdale composed the score for the film's central ballet sequence based on cartoon drawings and storyboards approved by Helpmann, which were assembled in the correct sequence.[8] A total of 120 drawings were provided to help guide Easdale in writing an appropriate musical accompaniment.[8] As filming of the ballet sequence progressed, the hand drawings were replaced by the corresponding completed shots.[8] Easdale received the 1948 Academy Award for Best Original Score, the first British film composer so honoured.[44]