I guess the lesson to be learned is that when one is in the arts and striving to be the best it demands 100% of you. At least that's the lesson I took away from The Red Shoes. The film itself is a reworking of the plot from Maytime with dance instead of singing as the art form.

Moira Shearer plays aspiring ballerina Victoria Page and her talent is immediately recognized by ballet impresario Anton Walbrook. He takes her under his wing, but Walbrook seems to want to control every aspect of her life. Walbrook also gives a break to young composer Marius Goring whom he hires to help orchestrate the music that the dancer's use. Goring is talented but also quite full of himself as well. Soon enough Shearer and Goring fall in love and that does not fit into the long range plans Walbrook has.

The title comes from a story by Hans Christian Andersen about a ballerina who sees a pair of red ballet slippers and puts them on and she can dance better than anyone has before. But The Red Shoes have their own enchantment, you can't stop dancing once they're on. The ballerina arranges for her feet to be cut off to stop dancing.

The ballet is an allegory for the terrible price one of these three has to pay for art's sake. The ballet itself which we see in its entirety is maybe the best ballet sequence ever brought to the big screen. Pieces of other classic ballet numbers are also scattered throughout the film and are woven and completely integrated into the plot.

Though John Barrymore who was the manager and husband of Jeanette Macdonald in Maytime was no longer available, Anton Walbrook got his career role out of playing Boris Lermontov who constantly walks back and forth over the line between dedication and obsession. Marius Goring is far from Nelson Eddy in this, he's ambitious and wants it all wife and career. To the extent that Shearer is also in the arts, he wants her in no small part to support his ambitions. In fact he becomes as unlikeable as Walbrook. Torn between these two men it is no wonder Shearer meets the fate she does.

Wonderful ballet sequences splendidly photographed by Jack Cardiff and well tuned acting performances by the three leads are the hallmark of The Red Shoes. This one is a timeless classic.

Renowned director Martin Scorsese considers The Red Shoes as his all time favourite movie, and it isn't hard to see why. The Red Shoes I consider to be the ultimate dance film, and is absolutely beautiful in every sense. The cinematography is fabulous, and the choreography is dazzling. The screenplay is excellent, and as the lovers Anton Walbrook and Moira Shearer head the fantastic cast(including Marius Goring) and do an impeccable job at it. The music was just gorgeous, and this is coming from a classical music fan, very lyrical, and just exactly what a ballet score should be like. All in all, if you see the Red Shoes on television, I advise you to watch it, even if you don't like it at first. 10/10 Bethany Cox

I suspect MOST people who like this movie so much do so because they are fans of ballet. Those who are not fans are simply much less likely to watch it. I DON'T care for ballet, so I felt a little odd watching it. I know the movie has a fabulous reputation and there was a lot of good in it, but I used the DVD remote to speed through the long ballet scenes! I know, that makes me a Neanderthal, BUT considering MOST people probably feel about the same way about ballet, this review is intended for those people--not the die-hard fans! Okay--half the movie or so is ballet, so automatically it CAN'T be a great movie to some. But, what did I like? Well, the cinematography was gorgeous for 1948 and the acting was generally first-rate. But, the ending of the movie was a letdown because it seemed a bit silly and overwrought. Plus, I was REALLY hoping someone would punch that really pompous producer (Boris Lermontov) in the nose instead--now THAT would have been a great ending! So, in conclusion, if you LOVE ballet, this movie will make you go nuts because it is so wonderful. But, if you don't, you'll probably find yourself wondering WHY you decided to watch the movie in the first place!