The Tales of Hoffmann (film)

Infobox Film
name = The Tales of Hoffmann


image_size = 215px
caption = theatrical poster
director = Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
producer = Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
writer = E.T.A. Hoffmann "(stories)"
Jules Barbier
"(opera libretto)"
Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger
Dennis Arundell
starring = Moira Shearer
Robert Helpmann
Léonide Massine
music = Jacques Offenbach
cinematography = Christopher Challis
editing = Reginald Mills
distributor = British Lion Films "(UK)"
Lopert Pictures "(US)"
released = 4 April fy|1951 "(NYC)"
17 May "(UK trade)"
26 November "(UK gen.)"
13 June fy|1952 "(US gen.)"
runtime = 128 minutes
country = United Kingdom
language = English
budget =
gross =
imdb_id = 0044103

"The Tales of Hoffmann" (1951) is a British film adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's opera "Les contes d'Hoffmann", written, produced and directed by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger working under the umbrella of their production company, The Archers. The films stars Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann and Léonide Massine, and features Robert Rounseville, Pamela Brown, Ludmilla Tchérina and Anne Ayars.

The production team included cinematographer Christopher Challis, Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hein Heckroth, who was nominated for two fy|1952 Academy Awards for his work on the film, as production and costume designer. "The Tales of Hoffmann" is widely regarded by many fans of Powell and Pressburger as their last great film together.Fact|date=December 2007 It is not just a film of a staged opera, but a true cinematic opera that makes use of film techniques not available in a staged opera.

Plot

In a tavern in Nuremberg, the young Hoffmann (Robert Rounseville) tells three stories of past loves (played by Moira Shearer, Ludmilla Tchérina, and Anne Ayars). He recounts the stories during the interval of a ballet, which stars his new love Stella (also played by Shearer). Léonide Massine and Robert Helpmann have roles in each story.

Adaptation

Apart from the fact that the original French libretto was translated to English, the film is relatively faithful to the traditional adaptations of Offenbach's last opera, and incorporates his unfinished score with the thread of the plot. However, certain key changes were made in the process of adapting the story to film.

In the prologue of the film, all of Lindorf's music is deleted, making him a silent character. Also, Stella's profession is changed from an opera singer appearing in Mozart's "Don Giovanni" to a ballet dancer.

"The Tale of Antonia" is shortened, ending with the powerful trio for Antonia, the Ghost of her mother, and Dr. Miracle rather than Antonia's death scene.

The role of Nicklausse is abridged. Footage of (Pamela Brown), who in the original play is revealed to be a disguise of the Muse of Poetry, was shot but deleted.

Cast

*Moira Shearer as "Stella / Olympia'
*Ludmilla Tchérina as "Giulietta"
*Anne Ayars as "Antonia"
*Pamela Brown as "Nicklaus"
*Léonide Massine as "Spalanzani / Schlemil / Franz"
*Robert Helpmann as "Lindorf / Coppelius / Dapertutto / Dr Miracle"
*Frederick Ashton as "Kleinsach / Cochenille"
*Mogens Wieth as "Crespel"
*Robert Rounseville as "Hoffmann"
*Lionel Harris as "Pitichinaccio"
*Meinhart Maur as "Luther"
*Edmond Audran as "Stella's partner in Dragonfly ballet"
*Thomas Beecham as "Conductor" (uncredited)

Prologue and Epilogue:
*Philip Leaver as "Andreas"
*John Ford as "Nathaniel" (uncredited)
*Richard Golding as "Hermann" (uncredited)Singing voices:
*Dorothy Bond as "Olympia"
*Margherita Grandi as "Giulietta"
*Monica Sinclair as "Nicklaus"
*Joan Alaxander as "Antonia's Mother"
*Grahame Clifford as "Spalanzani / Franz"
*Bruce Dargavel as "Coppelius / Dapertutto / Dr Miracle"
*Murray Dickie as "Cochenille / Nathaniel"
*Owen Brannigan as "Hermann / Schlemil / Crespel"
*Fisher Morgan as "Luther"
*Rene Soames as "Pitichinaccio"

Production

"The Tales of Hoffmann" was not a well liked film both before and after its production.Fact|date=December 2007 Alexander Korda, who was often sympathetic to the duo's earlier movies, was skeptical about this film and went as far as to slash nine minutes of the original cut (which were subsequently restored). The cut scenes included portions of the Dragonfly ballet performed by Stella in the prologue under Lindorf's lustful gazes.

In the later years of their partnership, Powell began toying with what he had called, "a composed film", a marriage of image to operatic sounds. The finale of "Black Narcissus" and the celebrated 'ballet' sequence of "The Red Shoes" were his earlier forays to achieve this goal.

"The Tales of Hoffmann" is an achievement of this ideal, as the entire opera was pre-recorded to create the soundtrack and the movie was edited to the rhythms of the music. The production was akin to that of a silent film, since it is completely without dialogue and, with the exception of Robert Rounseville and Anne Ayars, none of the actors did their own singing. Some of the singer had established careers in Britain at the time. Grahame Clifford, for example, had been a leading comedian with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company for several years, and Monica Sinclair, was fast becoming an audience favorite at Covent Garden; she would later become one of the company's most popular artists of the next two decades.

The acting (especially by Helpmann) is highly stylized and similar to that of the silent film era. Because of the unusual production, George A. Romero, who is one of the film's greatest champions, has likened it to a music video and he even compares Helpmann's characters, in both performance and characterization, as similar to Dracula.Fact|date=December 2007

The film is also highly regarded for its production design and cinematography. Each tale is marked by its own individual primary colour denoting each of its repective themes. "The Tale of Olympia", set in Paris, has yellow contours highlighting the farcical nature and tone of the first act. "The Tale of Giuletta" is a hellish depiction of Venice, where dark colours, especially red, are used. The final tale, set in Greece, uses different shades of blue, alluding to its sad nature. The set design is deliberately made to look artificial with the sets similarly stylized. The opening scene of the 'Tale of Giuletta' (where Giuletta performs the "Barcarolle", the most famous theme of the opera) is staged on a gondola which moves through deliberately artificial Venetian canals, although it does not seem to actually move on the water.

"The Tales of Hoffman" was in production from 1 July through 16 July fy|1950 [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044103/business Box office/Business] ] at Shepperton Studios in Shepperton, Surrey in the U.K. [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044103/locations Filming locations] ]

Response

:"For the first time in my life I was treated to Grand Opera where the beauty, power and scope of the music was equally matched by the visual presentation." — Cecil B. DeMille, in a letter to Powell and Pressburger. [http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/51_Hoffmann/Hoff02.html]

:"This is one notch out of alphabetical order, but I decided to give it the status of last position because it's my favourite film of all time; the movie that made me want to make movies." — George A. Romero, while explaining the list he submitted for the 2002 "Sight and Sound" poll. [http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=George+A.&surname=Romero]

Awards and honors

"The Tales of Hoffman" received two Academy Award nominations in fy|1952, both for Hein Heckroth, for "Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color" and "Best Costume Design, Color." In addition, Powell and Pressburger were nominated for the Grand Prize of the fy|1951 Cannes Film Festival, and won the Exceptional Prize. They also won the Silver Berlin Bear award for "Best Musical" at the Berlin International Film Festival that year. [IMDB [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044103/awards Awards] ] [Allmovie [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:73712~T4 Awards] ]

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Gibbon, Monk. "The Tales of Hoffmann: A Study of the Film". London: Saturn Press, 1951. 96pp (illus)
* Christie, Ian. "Arrows of Desire: the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger". London: Faber & Faber, 1985. ISBN 0-571-16271-1. 163pp (illus. filmog. bibliog. index.)
* Powell, Michael. "A Life in Movies: An Autobiography". , 1986. ISBN 0-434-59945-X.
* Powell, Michael. "Million Dollar Movie". London: Heinemann, 1992. ISBN 0-434-59947-6.

External links

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* [http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/51_Hoffmann "The Tales of Hoffmann"] reviews and articles at the [http://www.powell-pressburger.org Powell & Pressburger Pages]
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=317&eid=453&section=essay Ian Christie, "Tales from the Lives of Marionettes", Criterion Collection essay accompanying the DVD]
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/460086/ Nathalie Morris, "The Tales of Hoffmann".] Full synopsis and film stills with clips viewable from UK libraries, from the British Film Institute's screenonline website