Malhas Negras

Two of them are comedies, while the second and fourth are great tragedies. Everyone of them is perfect in choreography, dancing performances, impersonations, color and direction - nothing can be said against any of them. The music is originally mixed, it is both modern and classical, the most modern is in the second "Cyrano de Bergerac", while the best is in the third, "Widow for 24 Hours", which also presents the best solo ballet performance by Cyd Charisse, a very original comedy ballet, offering all kinds of typical Parisian delights, like both can-can, tango, strip tease and perhaps the best music of the whole. The fourth, "Carmen" is all Bizet. All four of them present excellent pas-de-deux, while "Cyrano de Bergerac", the second and the longest of the four, even presents a spectacular pas-de-trois, as Cyrano and Christian de Neuvillette, Roxane's two lovers, partner her expertly letting her believe them to be only the handsome Christian, while they perform this treat in marvelous communion, Cyrano always taking her over from behind, while she only sees Christian. It's a gripping and great drama, probably all made up by Edmond Rostand, but as a story it is immortal, and this ballet is a great illustration of it. Roland Petit is the choreographer and leading dancer in all four of them except the first, where Dirk Sanders makes the most impressing performance. Moira Shearer as Roxane, which is interesting to note, made this film in the same year as she made the ill-fated and unjustly notorious "Peeping Tom" with Michael Powell, who launched her in the greatest of all ballet films, "The Red Shoes" of 1948. Zizi Jeanmaire, leading in the first and last segment, is impressing as a dancer with very striking legs, but with her forced sensuality she makes almost a vulgar impression. An important detail is the great Danish dancer Henning Kronstam's short but striking appearance as Escamillo In the "Carmen" ballet. Cyd Charisse though is the jewel in the crown here, while perhaps the greatest surprise is, that the director was Terence Young, later world famous for launching the James Bond films.

I only watched the Cyrano de Bergerac segment of this movie. I know the play backwards and forwards, I know the various French and American movies that have been derived from it. I thought I would see what Roland Petit came up with to justify turning it into a ballet. The answer, in my opinion, was nothing. None of his choreography does anything to illuminate the story. It goes by quickly, but it never makes any effect.

Perhaps the other three segments of this movie are better. I don't know. I won't bother to find out. Nothing in the Cyrano segment gave me any reason to explore further.

I bought this movie on VHS "at the dawn on the home video age" and, curiously, never got around to watching it until I watched the 2005 National Film Museum version on TCM this afternoon. To compare, I hauled out my bought copy, Video Arts International's VAI-15, which is also the 126-minute U.S. version released theatrically in 1962. (Neither this title nor any title in this format is any longer in VAI's catalog.) The following comments refer to the version seen today on TV.

All in all, I found the performances, the choreography, the staging, and the technical elements surrounding them quite intriguing and enjoyable. Two of the technical elements, in particular, bear mentioning.

The color photography is luscious, but not what one typically thinks of when the movie is shot in Technicolor. Although the colors themselves are brilliant and distinct, there are no shades of gray in evidence. Grays come out black, detracting from some of the more darkly-lit pieces, and making the overall appearance one of high contrast. Additionally, some of the skin tones tend more toward "white" than toward "flesh-colored," aggravated no doubt by the contrast between dark and light.

Secondly, a feature that I consider a giant plus is that this movie of set ballet pieces was filmed before the arrival of the short attention span of the MTV Generation, when popular music videos corrupted the video style of even live performances, including many found on PBS. Here, although different camera angles are employed to good effect, they don't switch every five seconds making the viewer dizzy and disoriented. In short, one can actually watch and enjoy this performance instead of having one's concentration constantly distracted by helter-skelter random shots of the action.

In summary, this film of four ballets provides a fascinating "Roland Petit retrospective" nearly a half-century later.

This terrific dance film deserves to be judged in its historical context, where it shone in set design, choreography, cinematography, musical vivacity and not least in superb dancing.

I recall that at the time, Rene Jeanmaire's portrayal of Carmen was considered shockingly sexy for classical dance.

The film is still a treasure, especially as another gorgeous record of the brilliance of Shearer and Charisse, and remains a fully developed treat for the senses of anyone who enjoys dance at its best.

Highly recommended viewing for fans of all ages, not least to very young people dreaming of becoming dancers. The work in this film exemplifies a level of dance artistry that was revered in its day and by now has become legendary.

Yes, we would certainly stage things differently in the 21st century, yet this film is REAL Roland Petit --le vrai de vrai--, whose influence has been huge.

Viewing it again as a senior, I find many of the sets remarkable, especially the Dali-esquire richness of the Carmen story. I hope to view it anew on TCM and to smile and applaud all over again!

Maurice Chevalier introduces 4 ballets performed (and originally premiered, I believe) by Roland Petit's Les Ballets de Champs Elysees. Excellent productions in vivid Technicolor with all-star credits in every category: Cyd Charisse, Moira Shearer and Zizi Jeanmarie in leading roles, costumes by Yves Saint-Laurent and Christian Dior and music by Jean-Michel Damase, among others. Fans of ballet and all things French will delight.