The Red Shoes on AllMovie

The centerpiece of this backstage drama from "the Archers" (writers/directors/producers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger) is a performance of the ballet that lends the film its title. The main plot revolves around an impoverished young dancer who puts on a pair of magical shoes which raise her to new heights of dancing prowess. However, the curse of the red shoes is that they cannot come off, and they never stop dancing, forcing the exhausted young girl to the brink of death. The ballet is an encapsulation of the film itself, which focuses on young ballerina Victoria Page (Moira Shearer), who joins the dance troupe of the famed Russian choreographer Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Hired on as an understudy, she meets aspiring composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring), and the two fall in love; however, their romance is threatened when Victoria is given the lead in the company's latest production.