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Sadly, that actress, Moira Shearer, died on January 31 in Oxford, England of natural causes. Her contributions to film may have been brief, but for at least one film, Michael Powell's dance opus The Red Shoes (1948), this elegant, gorgeous redhead became a film icon for her balletic performance. He had been blacklisted in Hollywood following High Noon (1952) and moved to London to continue his career there. The ballerina.moves gracefully from the role of a dewy-eyed 16-year-old, to a mincing Cockney, to a temperamental but tender Russian première danseuse and, finally, to a smart manikin."Īccording to author Rebecca Prime's Hollywood Exiles in Europe, writer-producer Carl Foreman later said that he worked on this film's screenplay without credit. In essaying the roles of the 'redheads,' Moira Shearer has developed acting talents that are both surprising and refreshing. situations and dialogue never lack for color and his lightweight dig at dalliance is a pleasure. It was well-received in the U.S., with Variety deeming it "a light and wholly enjoyable British comedy" and The New York Times describing it as "a charming lark, light as a zephyr and just as welcome." The Times review continued: "Terrence Rattigan must have drunk copiously of that mysterious nectar that inspires some playwrights to weave bright comedy out of what is often flimsy, run-of-the-mill material. The picture opened in the United Kingdom in February 1955, with an American release following five months later. Denholm Elliott plays Binfield's son in one of his early screen appearances, and also notable is Gladys Cooper, who, French said, "steals the whole thing in the last few minutes." Actors Roland Culver and Joan Benham were imported from the stage version.
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French later said that he thought his cast wasn't strong enough and that he would have preferred Kenneth More to play Binfield instead, More narrates the tale wryly from offscreen. He adapted the screenplay himself, and the film was the last feature to be directed by actor-turned-director Harold French. Terence Rattigan's play opened in London in 1950 and ran for over a year. Binfield is played first by Jeremy Spenser as a 14-year-old, then later by John Justin (best known as Prince Ahmad in 1940's The Thief of Bagdad), who proceeds to age through the film. All her characters are loved by the same man, the diplomat Lord Binfield, who is married but considers the image of Shearer to be his ideal woman he pursues her in all her guises over nearly half a century. The red-haired Shearer plays four roles in the film, the third of whom is a dancer, affording her the opportunity to perform part of Tchaikovsky's "The Sleeping Beauty" ballet. Timing is everything - a few years later I could have played those parts so much better, but it was the film I most enjoyed doing."
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I played several parts and wished I'd had more experience before tackling it.
#MARK SAINTHILL FULL#
It was a charming play by Terence Rattigan, originally called Who Is Sylvia?, and we had a marvelous cast, full of the best British character actors: Roland Culver, Harry Andrews, Denholm Elliott, and so on. "Harold French directed, delightfully and easily, but had a little difficulty with his producer, Alex Korda, who announced he would redirect a certain sequence himself. "I loved it," she later told writer Brian MacFarlane for his book An Autobiography of British Cinema. Read the full article in HELLO! Magazine out now.Moira Shearer is best remembered for her turn as Victoria Page in The Red Shoes (1948), but of the actress-ballerina's six feature films, her favorite was the comedy The Man Who Loved Redheads (1955). Thankfully, I am now feeling much more back to normal: I am feeling good.” He has always been very hands-on but even more so in the last couple of months, so I can rest a bit more. He was very happy – surprised but happy.”Īnd she says her husband of seven years stepped up when she experienced nausea and fatigue at the start of the pregnancy. And I almost didn’t even bother to wait for the results but suddenly I saw this really faint line and I was like: ‘Oh! Hang on a minute!’ So I rushed out of the vaccine centre and said to the staff: ‘There’s been an emergency, I’ve got to go!’ I jumped into a taxi in a bit of a flap and rushed home and told Mark. But when I was going for my vaccine, I thought I had better just double check… I didn’t think for a minute it was going to be positive. “It had been my husband’s 40th that month, so we weren’t really trying because I wanted to enjoy all the parties. “Finding out I was pregnant again really took me by surprise,” Nicki said as she posed with Arthur and Mark at their beautiful West London home. Nicki Shields is expecting her second child with husband Mark Sainthill