From 20th Century Fox
Directed by Herbert Ross
Starring
Anne Bancroft
Shirley MacLaine
Leslie Browne
Tom Skerritt
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Anthony Zerbe
Martha Scott
James Mitchell
Daniel Levans
Marshall Thompson
I have always seen this film primarily for lovers of ballet. I am one of those despite never having been to one. (It's on my very brief bucket list.) Watching this film is where I have gotten my taste for ballet satisfied time and again although a nod must go to public television. The ballet sequences here are plentiful, including extra fun in watching the practice sessions, but that's not to say I didn't also like the story because I surely did.
It was written by Arthur Laurents (you last read about him as the writer of The Way We Were). Laurents was approached by his friend, Herbert Ross, who wanted to direct a film about the ballet (his wife, Nora Kaye, a former ballerina, would produce) and they wanted Laurents to write it because he was not only good at his craft but he, too, was a great lover of the ballet.
Laurents came up with what he considered a good script and after reading it, Ross agreed. But Laurents soon was miffed over and over again as Ross kept cutting out the gay parts of the script, claiming that no one in ballet is gay anymore. (No kidding?) Still left in the film (and another reason, of course, that I like it) are tidbits here and there, a few gay characters and a major plot point revealed at the end. The oddest thing about all of it is that both Laurents and Ross were gay. Whatever, the brouhaha effectively ended their friendship and Laurents, I've come to understand through two, utterly readable autobiographies, washed his hands of the film. It was also his final screenwriting job.
Most might say the story concerns two women, two longtime friends, while I would say it's about three women, the last being the daughter of one of them. That daughter comes to find success as a ballerina with the American Ballet Theater in New York, causing her mother to mull over her long-ago decision to give up her own chances in ballet to instead have a family.
Into all this comes the mother's longtime friend and the girl's godmother, who has had a long balletic career and no family and who, herself, is aging right out of the starring roles.
Shirley MacLaine and Tom Skerritt play the parents of three children, living in Oklahoma City, and teaching at a ballet school. They host the traveling ballet company (run by Martha Scott and James Mitchell) which includes Anne Bancroft, the old friend. She is quite taken at the sight of her now-grown goddaughter (Leslie Browne) with special emphasis on the girl wanting a career in ballet. Bancroft invites her to a class with the company the next day, which Browne accepts, and wows the company to such an extent that they invite her to come to New York and train with them. MacLaine and her ballet-enthusiast son accompany her while Skerritt and another daughter stay home.
In New York, let the drama begin. New York wouldn't have it any other way. The largest hook of the story comes with MacLaine's jealousy and bitterness over her decision to marry and immediately get pregnant (or was it the other way around?). She asks Bancroft if she'd like to trade places. It's obvious Bancroft has her regrets over her decision to forego any permanent relationships in exchange for being a ballerina but it doesn't equal the torture MacLaine feels about her choices.
Into the mix, of course, is Browne, who after joining the company becomes its female star. At the same time she will essentially replace the aging ballerina who is supportive and gracious while her mother is not quite there. Browne begins a sexual relationship with her dance partner, Yuri, the great Baryshnikov, who is not faithful to her. (They have one of the most elegantly-choreographed bed scenes ever, certainly a credit to people who understand the grace of movement.) When the relationship hits its bumps for a spell, her irritable nature affects everything she does, including her performances. It also provides some of the film's comedy.
Away from her husband, MacLaine is caught up in so many emotions, including most of the company treating her as an interloping stage mother rather than a former company dancer. She gets a new and more serious problem when she succumbs to a relationship of her own with another old friend, Anthony Zerbe, who pays her way too much attention. Since mother and daughter share an apartment bedroom together, they know what the other is up to and who isn't coming home at night. Their already-tenuous relationship slips down another rung.
By the end, it has all worked out favorably. Bancroft has resigned herself to coaching and later choreographing a ballet starring her goddaughter. The two young lovers are back together, a little wiser and more adult. MacLaine, being the most screwed-up and having the most to learn, does so. We have confirmed she's certainly involved in a good marriage to a decent and loving man. I always thought she was the luckiest of them all.
Obviously I was highly entertained by the ballet segments and the beauty and elegance of them but this film had a lot to say about friendship, family, regrets, resentment and jealousy and it said it very well. It seems so obvious that director, producer, writer and others obviously knew something about ballet and zeroed into some heartfelt emotions as well.
MacLaine plays hard and tough well. She always has. At the heart of this character, however, is a good person but one whose real dilemma is learning how to get out of her own way. I got a laugh knowing that in real life, MacLaine, not Bancroft, was the dancer. No doubt MacLaine packed on some pounds to play the Oklahoma City mother but she has always been a trouper.
I've also snickered over the years about Bancroft never being seen actually dancing to any degree beyond fluttering her hands. How they pulled that one off is beyond me but I'll certainly agree she looked the part. Not only does she have the lithe body but she could so easily be made up to look like one imagines a haughty ballerina might. Well, um, oh, ballerinas, you know what I mean.
Laurents wrote two back-to-back, gorgeous confrontational scenes between Bancroft and MacLaine. The first takes place on barstools at a hotel and is deliciously dramatic, full of one-liners and potshots. At one point Bancroft throws a drink in MacLaine's face and it's a hoot watching it because it was quickly improvised by Bancroft and Ross, to the utter surprise of MacLaine. The following scene, played mainly for laughs on the hotel's rooftop, is probably the film's most famous.
Frankly, while neither actress may have been the ones initially thought of for the roles, they were both deserving of their Oscar nominations. Have you heard of the pair they were talking of hiring? Here's a picture. Who are they?
For my money the revelation of the film is Browne. In addition to being a ballerina, she more than handled the film's numerous dramatic scenes, and as said, did a good comedy turn as well. Her dancing is simply glorious, none more so than in the final solo, choreographed by Frederick Ashton, over the closing credits. I swoon while I watch it and wish I had a copy of it without those pesky credits.
There's a fun twist to her role as well. Her parents, the Rosses and Lurents were once all pals, especially Kaye and Browne's mother. It was the women's friendship that inspired the roles played by MacLaine and Bancroft; therefore, Browne is playing a fictionalized version of herself. This was her first film and the only three films she's ever made were ballet-themed.
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| Leslie Browne |
This was also Baryshnikov's first film and let's face it, the part was perfect for him. He could pirouette, he certainly fit the name Yuri and he had a randy reputation. Hell, he could have phoned it in. I am not sure why he received his Oscar nomination unless Hollywood itself got all googly-eyed starstruck.
Tom Skerritt adds to any film, doesn't he? Here, at 43, the man was a catch. Anyone notice that head of hair? I would have given up ballet for him, too.
The film is loaded with real dancers and former dancers. One of the best scenes comes in the glittering Gala number that features so many including several ravishing numbers performed by Browne and Baryshnikov.
It would be too dismissive to not mention the look and the music. Albert Brenner provided a beautiful production design as did Marvin March's set design and Robert Surtees' cameras captured it all. The music was adapted and conducted by John Lanchbery and performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The film became rather famous for another reason. It scored a whopping 11 Oscar nominations and didn't win a single one of them. To that I say... and always have... huh?
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