Ballet Shoes, the movie adaptation of Noel Streatfield’s classic story, traces the travails of a refreshingly functional if hardly traditional English family. There’s Sylvia, the financially strapped lady of the house; her three benevolent boarders; Nana, the housekeeper; and, most important, the three orphaned girls in Sylvia’s charge. When the household pulls together to secure the penniless but loaded-with-potential girls (Paulina, Petrova, and Posy) a scholarship at a rigorous, no-wimps-allowed arts academy, the girls’ natural proclivities fast emerge: Posy’s a gifted dancer, Paulina’s a precocious actress, and Petrova has a way with engines. All three share boundless ambition and, early on, vow “to get our names in the history books without the help of relatives.” Close to two hours of triumphs, tough knocks, and tantrums follow; Petrova gets discouraged, Paulina gets too big for her britches, and Posy gets the rug pulled out from under her when her masterful teacher is hospitalized. Through it all, Sylvia, Nana, and the others unselfishly cheerlead, but then the girls’ road to greatness comes dangerously close to unraveling. Sylvia, no longer able to afford school necessities, may need to sell the house. Naturally, she doesn’t–just in time, a plum deal plops in the girls’ laps. This tidy, overlong movie ought to be sewn up then, but instead, true to the tale, it tacks on a happy, hopeful ending for all. Ballet Shoes is best suited to starry-eyed 9-year-olds and parents who wish to keep their kids’ pulses low. –Tammy La Gorce
This older version of the film was made in 1975 and in my opinion is a much truer tribute to Streatfeild’s classic novel. While the style is old-fashioned with long explanatory dialogues not really seen in movies nowadays, the parts are all portrayed with honesty and innocence. I especially enjoyed the performance of Mary Morris as Madame Fidolia, the classical Russian ballet teacher that features in all ballet stories of the era, played just as I feel Streatfield would have intended. – Viewer
In 1977 Ballet Shoes was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Special.
Starring Angela Thorne, Jane Slaughter, Elizabeth Morgan, Sarah Prince, Barbara Lott.