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1977 film by Herbert Ross

The Turning Point
Directed by	Herbert Ross
Written by	Arthur Laurents
Produced by	Arthur Laurents Herbert Ross Nora Kaye
Starring	Anne Bancroft Shirley MacLaine Tom Skerritt Mikhail Baryshnikov Leslie Browne Martha Scott Marshall Thompson Anthony Zerbe
Cinematography	Robert Surtees
Edited by	William H. Reynolds
Distributed by	20th Century Trick
Release date	Nov 14, 1977 (1977-eleven-14)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$33.6 one thousand thousand[1]

The Turning Point is a 1977 American drama film centered on the world of ballet in New York Metropolis, written by Arthur Laurents and directed by Herbert Ross. The movie stars Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft, along with Leslie Browne, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Tom Skerritt. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including All-time Movie. The script is a fictionalized version of the real-life Brown family and the friendship between ballerinas Isabel Mirrow Dark-brown (whose daughter, Leslie Browne, stars in the film) and Nora Kaye.

Plot [edit]

DeeDee Rodgers (Shirley MacLaine) leaves the ballet company later becoming pregnant by Wayne (Tom Skerritt), another dancer in the visitor. They marry and later move to Oklahoma City to run a dance studio. Emma Jacklin (Anne Bancroft) stays with the visitor and somewhen becomes a prima ballerina and well-known figure in the ballet customs.

While the company is on tour and performs a evidence in Oklahoma Metropolis, DeeDee and the family become to encounter the bear witness and then accept an after-party for the company at their dwelling. The reunion stirs up old memories and things begin to unravel.

At the party, DeeDee'due south aspiring dancer/daughter, Emilia (Leslie Browne), who is besides Emma's goddaughter, is invited to take class with the company the post-obit day. Afterwards taking grade with the company, Emilia is asked to join the company just she does not immediately accept the offering as she wants to think it over before making her final conclusion. DeeDee and Wayne decide that DeeDee should get to New York with Emilia, who is rather shy and does not make friends as easily as her younger sis. Meanwhile, their son, Ethan, gets a scholarship to the visitor's summertime program while Wayne and their other daughter stay in Oklahoma City.

Once in New York, they rent several rooms in Carnegie Hall with Madame Dakharova, a ballet charabanc. Emilia shortly starts a relationship with a Russian playboy in the company, Yuri (Mikhail Baryshnikov). DeeDee runs into the erstwhile conductor of the company and has an thing with him, which causes conflict betwixt Emilia and DeeDee. Meanwhile, Emma argues with Arnold, the choreographer, about giving her a better role in his new ballet, which he refuses and leads Emma to suggest Emilia for the function instead. It is also revealed Emma has been seeing a married man, Carter. During rehearsal, Emilia has an statement with Arnold and storms out, going to a bar and getting boozer. She then shows upwards for the operation that night even so drunk and Emma takes care of her, which angers DeeDee. Emilia suffers when she sees Yuri getting involved with another dancer, Carolyn.

Emma and DeeDee eventually enter into major disharmonize. DeeDee resents that Emma dotes on Emilia, when she has criticized DeeDee for choosing family life over her career while Emma chose not to have children. DeeDee accuses Emma of telling her to get meaning and have Wayne'southward baby so Emma could play the lead in Anna Karenina, which Emma afterwards admits is true.

Somewhen, misunderstandings are settled, with Emma and DeeDee working things out later a concrete atmospherics. Emilia is announced as the star of the next season, and she and Yuri brand up and concord to a professional partnership and zero more than. Deedee decides she is content with her life and the conclusion she made to go out professional ballet to take a family unit. Emma accepts that her performing days are numbered and she must embrace a different office inside the company. DeeDee and Emma step onto the stage and reminisce together.

Bandage [edit]

• Shirley MacLaine as DeeDee Rodgers – a former ballerina with the company (based on Isabel Mirrow)
• Anne Bancroft equally Emma Jacklin – an aging prima ballerina (based on Nora Kaye)
• Tom Skerritt as Wayne Rodgers – a erstwhile dancer with the company, married to DeeDee (based on Kelly Dark-brown)
• Leslie Browne equally Emilia Rodgers – a immature ballerina kickoff professional training and becoming a woman (based on herself)
• Mikhail Baryshnikov as Yuri Kopeikine – Emilia'south playboy love interest
• Martha Scott as Adelaide – a one-time dancer, now head of the company (based on Lucia Hunt)
• James Mitchell as Michael Cooke – the visitor creative managing director (based on Jerome Robbins)
• Alexandra Danilova every bit Madame Dakharova – a ballet coach
• Lisa Lucas every bit Janina Rodgers – sister of Emilia (based on Elizabeth Chocolate-brown)
• Philip Saunders as Ethan Rodgers – brother of Emilia who takes ballet himself (based on Ethan Dark-brown)
• Antoinette Sibley as Sevilla Haslam – a rival ballerina
• Marshall Thompson every bit Carter – a married human being Emma is dating
• Starr Danias as Carolyn – a rival ballerina that Yuri leaves Emilia for
• Anthony Zerbe equally Joe "Rosie" Rosenberg – a married former conductor of the company with whom DeeDee has an affair
• Daniel Levans as Arnold Berger – a headstrong choreographer with the company

A number of actresses were offered the roles of Emma and DeeDee, including Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Doris Day.^[2]

Bancroft had no previous dance experience, while MacLaine had started her career as a dancer of ballet and other types. She appeared on Broadway performing in the musicals Me and Juliet and The Pajama Game.

The title "The Turning Betoken" is a double entendre, meaning a big change in a person'south life and existence on pointe.

Choreography for the film was done by Alvin Ailey and George Balanchine.

Background [edit]

Isabel Mirrow Brown and Nora Kaye were babyhood friends. Their parents had immigrated from Russia around the aforementioned time and they lived in the same New York City brownstone building. Kaye was a few years older than Mirrow and encouraged her to train. Nora Kaye was in a relationship with Jerome Robbins in the early 1950s, but they never married, focusing on their careers instead. Robbins was also a known bisexual.^[3]

Isabel Mirrow danced with American Ballet Theatre from 1947 until 1953.^[four] Nora was with the company from its inception in 1939 until 1951, and later returned in a leadership role. Unlike in the film, Isabel did not get pregnant while she was with the company; withal, during this time Isabel married swain dancer Kelly Dark-brown, who was widely sought afterwards. Lucia Hunt was the caput of the visitor when Isabel and Nora were in that location.

Kaye continued to trip the light fantastic in New York with other companies and became a more prominent figure in the ballet world, while Isabel had stopped performing to marry and have children. Their offset child, Leslie Browne, built-in in 1957, was Nora Kaye's goddaughter. Kaye went on to marry director Herbert Ross in 1959. The ii couples were close friends, along with Arthur Laurents. Kelly Brown, Ross, Kaye, and Laurents all worked together in the Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale in 1962.^[5] In his autobiography, Laurents wrote that in the 1940s he had a sexual relationship with Nora Kaye.^[half-dozen]

In 1965, an opportunity to run a dance studio opened up, and Kelly Brownish decided to move his family to Phoenix, Arizona (changed to Oklahoma City in the picture). Past this time he and his wife had anile out of performing. Isabel Mirrow Brownish was not thrilled to leave her native New York for Arizona, and the movement acquired strain in their marriage. When their girl Leslie auditioned and was accepted to railroad train back in New York in the School of American Ballet (SAB), Isabel moved dorsum to New York to watch over Leslie, who was nonetheless a teenager. The film depicts Isabel's experience inbound back into the dance earth after living in Phoenix and having 4 children (iii in the motion-picture show). In real life she eventually divorced Kelly Brown, who died in 1981 at age 52.^[7]

While in Arizona the Browns had kept in touch with their friends Nora and Herbert. Afterward in the mid 1970s, a script based on the Brown family was developed by Arthur Laurents. Ross directed the film and co-produced with his wife. Ross, Laurents, and Kaye never had children and took a special interest in Leslie Browne every bit she grew older.

The script was a fictionalized version of the Browns' life and the long friendship between Isabel and Nora. The fictional parts primarily business organisation the character Yuri, who was created as a dearest involvement for Emilia. Originally, the ballerina Gelsey Kirkland, who was at the height of her fame at the time and dating Mikhail Baryshnikov (Yuri), was offered the part of Emilia.^[viii] She rejected the role every bit she was dealing with substance corruption bug at the time and she "wanted no part of Hollywood". Ross so decided that Leslie Browne, who was nineteen at the time, would exist able to portray a fictionalized version of herself in the moving picture. In real life, Leslie had just joined ABT in 1976 and was experiencing the same things she portrayed on screen. Leslie had added an "e" to her terminal name as her stage proper name to sound more feminine after existence mistaken every bit a human in a playbill.

The script inverse the family unit name from Brownish to Rodgers, and all the first names except for their son Ethan Chocolate-brown. The real-life Ethan Brown later became a soloist with American Ballet Theatre, retiring from performing in 2004; he now teaches.^[nine] In real life, the Browns had some other son, Kelly Dark-brown Ii, who danced as a child but did not train professionally like his siblings and after became a film producer. Their other girl, Elizabeth Brown (born 1959), was also a dancer, unlike in the film, and was accepted into SAB a year afterwards Leslie. Nora Kaye died of cancer in 1987 at age 67. After the moving-picture show, Leslie Browne went on to become a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre in New York Metropolis from 1986 until 1993 and at present teaches ballet. Her mother Isabel continued to be associated with New York ballet and died in Baronial 2014 at the age of 86.^{[10] [11]}

Herbert Ross later on directed two more dance-themed films, Nijinsky (1980) and Dancers (1987), both of which also feature Leslie Browne.

Arthur Laurents claimed an important subplot regarding Wayne'south homosexuality in the original script was cut from the film past Herbert Ross and his married woman. This was the reason why Wayne'southward character'southward development does not progress steadily throughout the film.^[12]

Reception [edit]

Vincent Canby of The New York Times chosen the flick an "entertaining new movie, an old-fashioned backstage musical transplanted to the earth of ballet past three people who not only know information technology just besides beloved it, sentimental clichés and all."^[13] Arthur D. Irish potato of Variety declared it "ane of the best films of this era. It's that rare example of synergy in which every key element is excellent and the ensemble is an absolute triumph."^[14] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of 4 and wrote, "In a movie year that will be remembered as the yr of the scientific discipline-fiction special effect, it is refreshing to meet a film such every bit 'The Turning Point,' which offers some other kind of excitement: the pleasure of following a story you can't easily anticipate."^[15] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times stated, "The performances by Bancroft and MacLaine are stunning, and both are at Academy Honour level ... 'The Turning Point' is a handsome, thoughtful, well-spoken and emotionally holding piece of stylish entertainment."^[16] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post chosen the pic "enormously appealing" and "an authentic breakthrough-throwback: a vividly enacted depiction of the conflicts between strong, capable, conscious, willful women."^[17] Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote, "Every bit a device, the turning point (like that constructed summer when adolescent heroes grow into men) is and then mechanical it's an exposed structure ... [Laurents] writes sodden, expository dialogue in which people are forever revealing truths to each other and then explaining those truths—'The Turning Point' comes with its own footnotes."^[eighteen]

The film holds a score of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The consensus reads, "The Turning Point is a handsomely-fabricated resuscitation of One-time Hollywood melodramas with a compelling duo at its centre, but the formulaic script keeps this story from realizing its symphonic potential."^[19] On Metacritic information technology has a score of 68% based on reviews from 10 critics.^[twenty]

Accolades [edit]

The film was nominated for 11 University Awards, simply failed to win any of them. Along with The Color Purple, it shares the tape of receiving the well-nigh Oscar nominations without a single win.^{[21] [22]}

Appearances in popular culture [edit]

• In an episode of The Nanny, Fran references the motion picture by saying: "This is like that movie The Turning Point, only they were dancers and one was the mother and they were old friends... [looks confused] I should actually rent that once more."
• In the Judy Blume book Summer Sisters this movie sparked a great give-and-take with the 2 principal characters of the story, Vix and Caitlin, which showed how dissimilar the girls' priorities were.
• In the episode of That '70s Show entitled "Fez Dates Donna", Eric, much to his delight, could not take Donna out to see the picture since Donna was pretending to exist dating Fez.
• In an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 ("Pass/Not Pass"), Brenda (Shannen Doherty) and Andrea (Gabrielle Carteris) perform a scene from the film for their theater grade.
• In the opening episode of Bunheads, Sutton Foster responds to hearing her mother-in-law's life story by saying "How very Turning Point."
• The pic is mentioned in the last episode of Feud: Bette & Joan ("Y'all Mean All This Fourth dimension We Could Have Been Friends?"); while attending the 1978 Academy Awards ceremony, Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) praises the film to a bartender who asks her which of that year's "Best Picture" nominees she hopes wins. Davis speaks positively of the film and its feminist themes and calls the flick (and Bancroft/MacLaine's rooftop fight) "the story of her life".

References [edit]

1. ^ "The Turning Bespeak, Box Part Information". The Numbers. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
2. ^ Crouse, Richard. "HOLLYWOOD GOES DANCING WITH THE STARS IN FOCUS". RichardCrouse.ca . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
3. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (January 3, 1999). "THE LIVES THEY LIVED: Jerome Robbins; Dancing Outside the Box". The New York Times.
4. ^ Dunning, Jennifer (2007-05-28). "Tableau of History: Generations Link Arms at Ballet Theater Reunion". The New York Times . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
5. ^ "I Tin can Get It for You Wholesale". IBDB . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
6. ^ Emmet Long, Robert (2003-01-01). Broadway: The Golden Years. ISBN9780826414625 . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
7. ^ "Kelly Brown, Player and Dancer Was Soloist With Ballet Theater". The New York Times. 1981-03-21. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
8. ^ Moore, Sally. "From Pain and Emotional Turmoil, Gelsey Kirkland Lights Up the Ballet Stage Once more". People Magazine . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
9. ^ Vaughan, David. "Ethan Brown's Retirement". Dance View Times . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
10. ^ Snedeker, Kate. "An Interview with Leslie Browne, Retired Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theatre". Critical Dance . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
11. ^ "An American Dance Dynasty". The Gratis Library . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
12. ^ McGilligan, Pat. "Arthur Laurents: Emotional Reality". UC Printing . Retrieved 28 June 2017.
13. ^ Canby, Vincent (Nov xv, 1977). "'Turning Point' Limns Ballet Life". The New York Times. 48.
14. ^ Murphy, Arthur D. (October nineteen, 1977). "Film Reviews: The Turning Point". Variety. 25.
15. ^ Siskel, Gene (November xviii, 1977). "MacLaine excels in choice 'Signal'". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 3.
16. ^ Champlin, Charles (November 13, 1977). "Women in Transition: 3 Films Virtually Choosing". Los Angeles Times. Calendar, p. 40.
17. ^ Arnold, Gary (November 13, 1977). "The Turning Bespeak". The Washington Post. L1.
18. ^ Kael, Pauline (November 21, 1977). "The Current Movie theater". The New Yorker 212.
19. ^ "The Turning Point". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved March one, 2022.
20. ^ "The Turning Indicate". Metacritic.
21. ^ "The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org . Retrieved 2011-10-05 .
22. ^ "The Turning Signal – Awards". Movies & Boob tube Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on March 16, 2011. Retrieved Dec 30, 2008.

• Lawrence, Greg. Dance with Demons: The Life of Jerome Robbins. New York: Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-399-14652-0.
• Russo, Vito. The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies. New York: Harper, 1987. ISBN 0-06-096132-v.

External links [edit]

• The Turning Point at IMDb
• The Turning Point at AllMovie

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Turning_Point_%281977_film%29