Ballet Shoes (film)

Last updated

Ballet Shoes
Ballet Shoes.jpg
Promotional poster
Based on Ballet Shoes
by Noel Streatfeild
Written byHeidi Thomas
Directed by Sandra Goldbacher
Starring
Theme music composer Kevin Sargent
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producers Piers Wenger
Michele Buck
Damien Timmer
Patrick Spence
Heidi Thomas
Running time85 minutes
Original release
Network BBC One
Release26 December 2007 (2007-12-26)

Ballet Shoes is a 2007 British television film, adapted by Heidi Thomas from Noel Streatfeild's 1936 novel Ballet Shoes . [1] It was produced by Granada Productions (formerly Granada Television) and premiered on BBC One on 26 December 2007. It is directed by Sandra Goldbacher.

Contents

A previous adaptation of Ballet Shoes was produced in serial format by the BBC in 1975 and directed by Timothy Combe. The television film stars Emma Watson as Pauline Fossil, Richard Griffiths as Gum, Lucy Boynton as Posy Fossil, Yasmin Paige as Petrova Fossil, Emilia Fox as Sylvia Brown, Victoria Wood as Nana and Gemma Jones as Dr. Jakes.

Plot

A practical young orphan, Sylvia Brown, and her stern nurse Nana come to live at her Great Uncle Matthew's house in London, England after her parents die tragically. Great Uncle Matthew, a paleontologist, is reluctant to take in his niece, but relents as he is her only living relative. He comes to be called Gum, and he is often away collecting fossils, but he sends Sylvia letters and presents, and she grows to love him.

Years later, Sylvia is now grown and still living with Gum and Nana. Gum brings home an orphaned baby girl, whose parents died on the RMS Titanic. He names her Pauline Fossil and legally adopts her. Two years later, Gum adopts Petrova, a Russian baby girl. In 1923, Gum adopts a third baby, Posy, who arrives with her mother's ballet shoes and necklaces for the three girls. Gum explains that Posy's father died and her mother is unable to care for her daughter. He also leaves Sylvia enough money for five years. That is the last the family hears of him.

During The Great Depression, Pauline and Petrova attend school at Cromwell House, but Sylvia cannot afford to send Posy. As Gum's money runs out, Sylvia has to take Pauline and Petrova out of school. To earn money, she takes in four boarders: Theo Dane, an impractical dance teacher; John Simpson, who works with cars; and Dr. Smith and Dr. Jakes, who are retired professors.

Pauline, Petrova, and Posy are inspired by the professors to "put their names in the history books" by giving service to their country. Every Christmas and on birthdays they vow to do that.

Theo encourages Sylvia to have the girls train at the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, a performing arts school. Sylvia and Nana refuse, but after talking with Theo, Dr. Smith, and Dr. Jakes, Sylvia reluctantly agrees to let the girls be trained so they can earn a living. Meanwhile, Dr. Smith and Dr. Jakes tutor Pauline, Petrova, and Posy. The girls' lives become very busy. Soon Pauline is old enough to perform on stage and auditions for the role of Alice in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . She loans Gum's necklaces to Mr. Simpson for money to buy a frock, and will pay him back with her wages. Pauline gets the part, and does well as Alice. She gives thirty shillings to Sylvia for housekeeping money. But the role inflates Pauline's ego, and she is rude to Winifred, her understudy. When Pauline loses her temper at Mr. French, the director, she is kicked out of the play and replaced by Winifred.

Madame Fidolia, the owner of the school, notices Posy is talented at ballet and teaches her classical ballet. However, Petrova hates dancing and would rather work with cars and fly planes. She and Mr. Simpson become good friends. Sylvia starts to fall in love with Mr. Simpson. She has bad lungs and her health starts worsening, worrying Petrova.

Petrova and Pauline audition for roles as fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Petrova does badly, but she is hired as no one else auditions for the role. Pauline is also hired. Petrova does poorly at the rehearsals and is almost sacked. She dislikes acting but does it for the money. When A Midsummer Night's Dream ends, Pauline wants to audition with Petrova for another play, but Petrova warns her to stop forcing her go on stage.

The girls and Sylvia go camping. Mr. Simpson comes to tell them that Pauline will be auditioning for a movie, Charles In Exile. She gets the part, but finds film acting difficult and initially dislikes it. After the filming, Pauline and Petrova act in a pantomime of Cinderella. Even with the money from the film and play, Sylvia cannot afford to keep their house as Gum hasn't sent word or money for twelve years. She has him dead and decides to sell.

Madame Fidolia takes Posy to see Valentin Manoff's ballet. She loves it and wants to attend his ballet school in Czechoslovakia. Madame has a stroke and is paralysed, leaving Posy devastated that her future as a ballerina was now in peril. Charles In Exile is a hit, and Pauline has been discovered. She is offered a five-year contract in Hollywood, but she is unsure she should accept it.

Posy runs away to audition for Manoff's ballet, and is accepted. Pauline signs the film contract so that Posy can go to Czechoslovakia with Nana, and Sylvia will go to Hollywood with her. Unexpectedly, Gum returns safe and sound. He agrees to teach Petrova to fly planes. The movie ends with Pauline and Posy vowing to get Petrova into the history books, while Petrova flies over Sylvia and Mr. Simpson's wedding.

Cast

Production

In a press release dated July 2007 it was announced that the film would begin shooting that August. [4] Screenwriter and producer Heidi Thomas called the schedule "murderous". [5]

Both Victoria Wood and Thomas described Streatfeild's novel as a book they have long treasured. [5] Producer Piers Wenger, who said the film has a "strong rites-of-passage story", related the film to the current "cult of the TV talent shows", and said that it "is also a great antidote to the notion of fame for fame's sake". [5]

Casting

A July 2007 report from Digital Spy written by Kimberley Dadds announced the involvement of Woods, Griffiths and Warren; [6] the BBC announced that open casting for the roles of the sisters would be a week later. [4] Emilia Fox plays the part of Sylvia Brown in this adaptation; her mother, Joanna David, played the part of Theo Dane in the 1975 BBC adaptation of the same story. [5] Emma Watson, Richard Griffiths and Gemma Jones have all starred in films in the Harry Potter franchise, playing Hermione Granger, Uncle Vernon Dursley and Madam Poppy Pomfrey respectively. In addition, Gemma Jones starred in the 1995 adaptation of Sense and Sensibility as Mrs. Dashwood, while Lucy Boynton (Posy) played Margaret Dashwood in the 2008 BBC adaptation of the same novel. [7] Louise Keller of Urban Cinefile notes that this is Emma Watson's first role other than that of Hermione, [8] though her voice would later be heard in The Tale of Despereaux . Identical twin girls Lucy and Nina Watson, who take turns playing a younger Pauline in this film, are Emma Watson's younger half-sisters and only appear in the uncut DVD version of the film. [9]

Broadcast and commercial releases

The film was released on DVD in Europe in Region 2 on 7 January 2008. [10] The film had a limited release in U.S. theaters on 26 August 2008; [11] this can be seen as part of Screenvision's initiative to expand its venue. [12] According to a press release on Screenvision's website, KOCH Vision bought the North American Home Entertainment rights from Granada International and partnered with Screenvision; KOCH Vision President Michael Rosenberg said that the theatrical run would help promote the DVD. [13] Participating theaters promoted the film with a trailer and a poster earlier that August, and Random House promoted the "Shoe Books", in association with the film. [14] Ballet Shoes was released on DVD in North America, Region 1, on 2 September 2008. [15] The film premiered on Christmas Eve on TV ONE in New Zealand. It was broadcast in Canada on CBC. [16] It was aired in Australia on 7 June 2009.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 6 critics, with an average rating of 7.7/10. [17]

Wayne Myers of The Oneida Daily Dispatch called it an "embraceable film of the sort that emerges more frequently from elsewhere nowadays than Hollywood", and praised the performances of Paige, Watson, Boynton and Nicol. [18] Brian Orndorf wrote that Emilia Fox as Sylvia "forms the spine of the story" and that Goldbacher "is cautious to silently weave the performance throughout the film to undercut any saccharine temptations." [19] Betty Joe Tucker of ReelTalk Movie Reviews praised the way film evokes the 1930s. [20] Gina Catanzarite, in a review for Parents' Choice, suggested that there may be too much plot material for the film's relatively short running time. [21]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Red Shoes</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

The Red Shoes is a 1948 British drama film written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It follows Victoria Page, an aspiring ballerina who joins the world-renowned Ballet Lermontov, owned and operated by Boris Lermontov, who tests her dedication to the ballet by making her choose between her career and her romance with composer Julian Craster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Cartwright</span> American voice actress (born 1957)

Nancy Jean Cartwright is an American actress. She is the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, for which she has received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in the Field of Animation. Cartwright also voices other characters for the show, including Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, Nelson Muntz, and Maggie Simpson. She is also the voice of Chuckie Finster in the Nickelodeon series Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up!, succeeding Christine Cavanaugh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Watson</span> English actress (born 1990)

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson is an English actress. Known for her roles in both blockbusters and independent films, she has received a selection of accolades, including a Young Artist Award and three MTV Movie Awards. Watson has been ranked among the world's highest-paid actresses by Forbes and Vanity Fair, and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2015. Watson was also listed by Forbes as an honouree on the Forbes 30 under 30 list in 2015 and 2016.

Some films feature recognizable dance forms, demonstrating them, shedding light on their origin, or being the base of a plot.

A fossil is the mineralized remains of a dead organism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyd Charisse</span> American dancer and actress (1922–2008)

Cyd Charisse was an American dancer and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noel Streatfeild</span> English author (1895–1986)

Mary Noel Streatfeild OBE was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series. Random House, the U.S. publisher of the 1936 novel Ballet Shoes (1936), published some of Streatfeild's subsequent children's books using the word "Shoes" in their titles, to capitalize on the popularity of Ballet Shoes; thus Circus Shoes, Party Shoes, Skating Shoes and many more. She won the third annual Carnegie Medal for The Circus Is Coming. She was a member of the historic Streatfeild family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moira Shearer</span> Scottish ballerina and actress (1926–2006)

Moira Shearer King, Lady Kennedy was a Scottish ballet dancer and actress. She was famous for her performances in Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffman (1951) and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Morris</span> British actress (1915–1988)

Mary Lilian Agnes Morris was a Fijian born British actress.

<i>Emma</i> (1996 TV film) 1996 television film directed by Diarmuid Lawrence

Emma is a television film based on the 1815 novel of the same name by Jane Austen, directed by Diarmuid Lawrence and dramatised by Andrew Davies, the same year as Miramax's film adaptation of Emma starring Gwyneth Paltrow was released. This production stars Kate Beckinsale as the title character, and also features Samantha Morton as Harriet Smith and Mark Strong as Mr. Knightley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Shalet</span> British actress

Victoria Shalet is an English former actress, known for her role as Harmony in the CBBC adaptation of the Dick King-Smith book The Queen's Nose.

"'Round Springfield" is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on April 30, 1995. In the episode, Bart is hospitalized after eating a piece of jagged metal in his Krusty-O's cereal and sues Krusty the Clown. While visiting Bart, Lisa discovers her old mentor, jazz musician "Bleeding Gums" Murphy, is also in the hospital. When he dies suddenly, she resolves to honor his memory. Steve Allen and Ron Taylor guest star, each in his second appearance on the show. Dan Higgins also returns as the writer and performer of all of Lisa and Bleeding Gums' saxophone solos.

Yasmin Paige is an English actress. She played the film role of Jordana Bevan in Submarine, and has appeared on television as Beth Mitchell in Pramface, and Maria Jackson in The Sarah Jane Adventures.

<i>Ballet Shoes</i> (novel) 1936 childrens novel by Noel Streatfeild

Ballet Shoes: A Story of Three Children on the Stage is a children's novel by Noel Streatfeild, published by Dent in 1936. Her first book for children, it was illustrated by the author's sister, Ruth Gervis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy Boynton</span> British-American actress (born 1994)

Lucy Boynton is a British actress. Raised in London, she made her professional debut as the young Beatrix Potter in Miss Potter (2006). She appeared in television productions Ballet Shoes (2007), Sense and Sensibility (2008) and Mo (2010), making guest appearances on Lewis, Borgia, Endeavour, and Law & Order: UK. Boynton portrayed writer Angelica Garnett on Life in Squares, which aired on BBC. She appeared as an isolated popular girl in The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015) and starred as a bold aspiring model in Sing Street (2016). She also appeared in horror films I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) and Don't Knock Twice (2016).

<i>Ballet Shoes</i> (TV serial) 1975 British TV childrens drama series

Ballet Shoes is British television adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's novel Ballet Shoes first broadcast on BBC One in 1975. Adapted by John Wiles and directed by Timothy Combe, the series was aired in six parts on Sunday evenings. It was aired by PBS in the United States on 27 December 1976.

<i>Curtain Up</i> (novel) 1944 novel by Noel Streatfeild

Curtain Up is a children's novel about a theatrical family by British author Noel Streatfeild. It was first published in 1944. To remind potential readers of Streatfeild's highly successful first novel, Ballet Shoes, it is often retitled Theatre Shoes, or Theater Shoes in the US. A number of Streatfeild's children's novels have undergone similar retitling.

<i>Jekyll & Hyde: Direct from Broadway</i> American TV series or program

Jekyll & Hyde: Direct from Broadway is a 2001 television film of the Broadway production of the 1990 musical Jekyll & Hyde as captured live in performance on Broadway featuring the show's final Broadway cast. The show was captured at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre in New York City December 2000 utilizing multiple high-definition cameras by Broadway Worldwide.

Lowri Shone is an English ballerina, and is training at English National Ballet School in London.

Parignya Pandya Shah, also known as Parignya Pandya and Parigna Pandya, is an Indian actress, voice dubbing actress and trained classical singer. She speaks English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati.

References

  1. ↑ "The Stage / News / Wood to star in a BBC1 adaptation of Ballet Shoes". TheStage.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  2. ↑ "Lucy Watson". IMDb .
  3. ↑ "The UK TV Guide: BALLET SHOES". TheUKTVGuide.com. Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  4. 1 2 "Ballet Shoes dances onto BBC One". BBC Press Office. BBC. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Ballet Shoes: Interviews: Behind the Scenes/A Tale of Our Times". BBC Northern Ireland. BBC.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  6. ↑ Dadds, Kimberley (20 July 2007). "BBC announces 'Ballet Shoes' drama". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  7. ↑ "Sense and Sensibility". IMDb . Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  8. ↑ Keller, Louise (18 December 2008). "BALLET SHOES: DVD". Urban Cinefile. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  9. ↑ "Emma Watson official website | Appearance of sisters in film". Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  10. ↑ "Emma Watson official website | Release in Europe on DVD". Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  11. ↑ "Ballet Shoes Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes . IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  12. ↑ Thielman, Sam (20 August 2008). "BBC's 'Ballet Shoes' takes U.S. spin: Film reunites three 'Harry Potter' thesps". Variety . Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  13. ↑ "SCREENVISION PRESENTS BALLET SHOES STARRING HARRY POTTER'S EMMA WATSON". Screenvision. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 19 November 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  14. ↑ Widder, Carrie (24 July 2008). "'Ballet Shoes' in Theaters Week Before DVD Release". Home Media Magazine. Questex Media Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  15. ↑ "Emma Watson official website | Ballet Shoes USA". Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  16. ↑ "Emma Watson official website | TV One and CBC broadcasts Ballet Shoes". Retrieved 2011-04-04.
  17. ↑ "Ballet Shoes" on Rotten Tomatoes
  18. ↑ Myers, Wayne (10 September 2008). "On DVD: Excellent 'Ballet Shoes' makes its 'pointe'". The Onieda Daily Dispatch. Retrieved 30 November 2009.[ dead link ]
  19. ↑ Orndorf, Brian (30 August 2008). "Ballet Shoes". DVDTalk.com. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  20. ↑ Tucker, Betty Joe. "Those Fabulous Fossils". ReelTalk Movie Reviews. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  21. ↑ Catanzarite, Gina (2008). "Ballet Shoes". Parents' Choice. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.