Close up: Moira Shearer
Given that she has contributed to some of British cinema's
defining moments, it is a surprise to realise Moira Shearer's
career in film has not been more prolific.
A leading ballerina with Sadler's Wells (now Royal) Ballet,
she was launched on to the screen by Michael Powell, who
waited over a year for her to accept the lead role in his
ground-breaking and highly popular ballet film The Red Shoes
which proved that ballet could be successfully presented on
screen. After a brief return to Covent Garden, she went back to
Powell and Pressburger for their even more commercially daring
project The Tales of Hoffmann. She was tempted to Hollywood
in 1953 for The Story of Three Loves, an old-fashioned tale
of love aboard a transatlantic liner, then returned to Britain
to make The Man Who Loved Redheads; her personal favourite, it
enabled her to demonstrate her flair for comedy. As a favour to
Powell, she then took the very small but iconic - and ironic -
role of the hopeful dancer performing a banal routine in Peeping
Tom. She went to France in 1961 to make Black Tights (Un, Deux,
Trois, Quatre), a compilation of Roland Petit ballets in which she
danced Roxanne in 'Cyrano de Bergerac' but which was then drastically
cut by the studio. Although offered further roles, Shearer has
prioritised a happy and fulfilling marriage and children over
films, so regretfully audiences have not had the opportunity to
see her on screen again, but we can still enjoy these very fine
moments.
Hilary Smith
