Don't let the movie poster fool you... this film is full of great melodrama and not just all saccharine. It's definitely worth seeking out if you can find it on DVD. An opportunity to see one of the era's finest young actresses Margaret O'Brien giving one of her most emotional performances. 8/10
Director:Henry Koster Writers:Paul Morand (story "La Morte du Cygne"), Myles Connolly Stars: Margaret O'Brien, Cyd Charisse, Karin Booth
The Unfinished Dance's performance sequences may be less classical and more Hollywood, but the film has dramatic elements: passionate devotion, melodrama, guilt, great production values, Technicolor .-- this film has amazing tapestry of colors and The Unfinished Dance also has MGM's soon-to-be prima ballerina, Cyd Charisse, and one of the best child actors of all time, Margaret O'Brien.
According to O'Brien, her mother, a former dancer, had seen the French film "La Morte du Cygne"and brought the idea of remaking it to MGM. The 9-year old Margaret trained for six months with Russian ballet teachers, and did her own dancing in the film. Margaret's prep really pays off and I could tell she had natural elegance and grace in her body movements in particular her flowing arm gestures.
Comedian Danny Thomas made his film debut in The Unfinished Dance, playing O'Brien's guardian. It was a warm and appealing performance. But Thomas's film career never really took off. When he turned to television in the early 1950s he became a huge star.
The Unfinished Dance, which sets the action at the Ballet School of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Young Meg Merlin, ( Margaret O'Brain ) who hero-worships a dancer at her elite ballet school, is heartbroken when prima ballerina La Darina (the stunning Karin Booth) arrives to rival her idol. So Meg devises a plan. One little tug on a light switch while La Darina dances Swan Lake will ruin the performance. But Meg pulls the wrong switch - the one that opens a stage trapdoor - and sends the prima ballerina into a career-ending plunge to the floor below. Margaret O'Brien and Cyd Charisse play two generations of dancers in this lavish Technicolor film that combines a tragic story of guilt and broken dreams with the opulence of ballet (among the elegant visuals: the mirrored floor that emulates the swans' watery domain). It's a must-see for fans little Margaret O'Brian or Cyd Charisse.
Director:Henry Koster Writers:Paul Morand (story "La Morte du Cygne"), Myles Connolly Stars: Margaret O'Brien, Cyd Charisse, Karin Booth
The Unfinished Dance's performance sequences may be less classical and more Hollywood, but the film has dramatic elements: passionate devotion, melodrama, guilt, great production values, Technicolor .-- this film has amazing tapestry of colors and The Unfinished Dance also has MGM's soon-to-be prima ballerina, Cyd Charisse, and one of the best child actors of all time, Margaret O'Brien.
According to O'Brien, her mother, a former dancer, had seen the French film "La Morte du Cygne"and brought the idea of remaking it to MGM. The 9-year old Margaret trained for six months with Russian ballet teachers, and did her own dancing in the film. Margaret's prep really pays off and I could tell she had natural elegance and grace in her body movements in particular her flowing arm gestures.
Comedian Danny Thomas made his film debut in The Unfinished Dance, playing O'Brien's guardian. It was a warm and appealing performance. But Thomas's film career never really took off. When he turned to television in the early 1950s he became a huge star.
The Unfinished Dance, which sets the action at the Ballet School of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Young Meg Merlin, ( Margaret O'Brain ) who hero-worships a dancer at her elite ballet school, is heartbroken when prima ballerina La Darina (the stunning Karin Booth) arrives to rival her idol. So Meg devises a plan. One little tug on a light switch while La Darina dances Swan Lake will ruin the performance. But Meg pulls the wrong switch - the one that opens a stage trapdoor - and sends the prima ballerina into a career-ending plunge to the floor below. Margaret O'Brien and Cyd Charisse play two generations of dancers in this lavish Technicolor film that combines a tragic story of guilt and broken dreams with the opulence of ballet (among the elegant visuals: the mirrored floor that emulates the swans' watery domain). It's a must-see for fans little Margaret O'Brian or Cyd Charisse.