AllMovie

Not to be confused with the lavish 1968 biopic Isadora, the black-and-white Isadora Duncan was produced in 1966 for BBC television. Vivian Pickles stars as the free-spirited British ballet artiste of the post-World War I era, while an anonymous double handles the dance sequences. This 65-minute film was one of a series of irreverent biographies directed for television by enfant terrible Ken Russell. We know we're in Russell territory in the first scene, wherein the strangulation death of Isadora is recreated in loving detail, right down to the blood trickling from her lifeless lips. Russell's Isadora Duncan received its widest American exposure on public television.