“She looked at the red shoes, for she thought there was no harm in looking. She put them on, for she thought there was no harm in that either. But then she went to the ball and began dancing. When she tried to turn to the right, the shoes turned to the left. When she wanted to dance up the ballroom, her shoes danced down. They danced down the stairs, into the street, and out through the gate of the town. Dance she did, and dance she must, straight into the dark woods.” The Red Shoes (Michael Powell + Emeric Pressburger, 1948)
Aug
3
red
A ballerina's lower body in focus. She wears a long tulle off-white dress, slightly sheer, with her white stockings showing through slightly. Part of her right lower arm is visible, the hand clutched, a turquoise bracelet on the wrist. What stands out most are her ruby red ballet shoes that appear to move away from her. The backdrop is a dull, washed out carpet. DP: Jack Cardiff.
Red: best use of red in food or fashion*
– Hans Christian Andersen, De røde Skoe (1845, tranl. Jean Hersholt, 1949), via
Another one of The Archers' #Technicolor extravaganzas. This time, not to wow the worn-down post-war black-and-white audience, but as an an active storytelling instrument.
Built around Hans Christian Andersen's haunting tale De røde Skoe (1845).
* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for August is not date-related but lists, for the most part, the colours of the rainbow.
ballet
“Now, until the break of day,
Through this house each fairy stray…”A Midsummer Night's Dream (William Dieterle + Max Reinhardt, 1935)
Jun
10
Superman Week
Oberon (Victor Jory) – King of the Fairies – on his horse with Puck (Mickey Rooney) – a trickster sprite. While they ride of, Oberon's cape flows behind them through the trees, supported by the fae. A lot of the other-worldly fairy sparkle was accomplished by generous amounts of DuPont® cellophane and cinematographer Hal Mohr's contribution of trimming the trees with aluminium paint, cobwebs, and small metal particles. DP: Hal Mohr.
Capes, cloaks, and mantles are everywhere in Dieterle and Reinhardt's lavishly outfitted A Midsummer Night's Dream. The dreamlike #CostumeDesign by Max Rée and the uncredited Milo Anderson is as much as a personality as #Shakespeare's characters are.
– Oberon, Act 5, Scene 1
Any reports of Kenneth Anger's presence as the Changeling Prince are greatly exaggerated.
