the scanned publicity photo (hand-tinted by either the distributor or a previous collector) shows Toumanova in a Lichine? ballet partnered by an unidentified dancer.
i know no more than what the caption says beyond this.
anyone have sense of who partnered TT (as Pavlova) in this movie based on the life of impresair Sol Hurok?

Going through the cast list (on imdb.com), there's a "Serge Perrault" as "Albrecht." According to the Internet Broadway Database site, Perrault was both an actor (in French) and a dancer with Roland Petit's company. Could that be it?

http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=94581

Here's a head shot, which does look a bit like what we can see of the face of the man in your picture:
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital...36961&word=

I just found a confirmation on Google Books: The American Film Institute Catalogue: Wlthin Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-1960.


http://books.google.com/books?id=bsoUXGZSx...%22&f=false

The photograph shows Toumanova and Perrault in a scene from “Autumn Leaves”, (not that Pavlova would have recognised it) which was shot, but cut from the 1953 film except that you see a glimpse of this work under the credits at the beginning of the film.

I have heard that this ballet sequence was replaced by Zanuck some years later but it was not in the version which I last saw in 1974. David Lichine is credited for the choreography of the film.

Perrault trained at the Paris Opera(, entered the corps 1943-47) and left to join Roland Petit’s company which had terrific success in New York with a programme that ran for 116 performances. He also appeared in Jean-Louis Barrault productions on Broadway.

Perrault taught at the Paris Opera from the 1970's to the late 1980's and he is the brother of a most distinguished French ballerina Lycette Darsonval and their nephew Francois Perron works somewhere in New York.

The Internet Broadway Database has the casts for the Petit 's Ballets de Paris performances during two runs (Oct. 1949 - Jan.1950 and Oct. 1950 - Dec. 1950). One of Perrault's roles was the Toreador in Carmen.

It's interesting that Henry Danton also danced in that second season, performing the male lead in Le Combat. We had a thread on Danton earlier this summer, though I don't think his relationship with Petit was mentioned. Le Combat's choreographer isn't listed, but the music is Raffaello di Banfield's, so I would suppose it is Dollar's version
:
http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=312

I also noticed that, in the caption of rg's photo, 4th billing goes to "Ann Bancraft." That was Ann Bancroft, playing Emma Hurok. Is that Sol's wife?

thanks to all.
i saw that Perrault name and wondered as the character he took on (uncredited) was this Albrecht.
these one-name dancers are a little world unto themselves.
Jilliana (of NYCB0
Giselle (of the American Ballet)
Perrault (of Petit)
etc.

Roland Petit’s, Les Balet de Paris played at the Winter Garden with a programme of Carmen, L'Oeuf á la Coque, Pas d'Action, Le Combat from10/6/1949 - 1/14/1950 a total of 116 performances. Later in the year they returned and appeared at the National Theatre and Broadhurst Theatre from 8/10/1950 to 02/12/1950 performing Carmen, L'Oeuf á la Coque Les Forains. In 1954 the company appeared at the Broadway Theatre giving 48 performances. Serge Perrault starred in all three visits. When Jean-Louis Barrault the great French actor/Director brought his company to the Ziegfield Theatre with three programmes in 1952, they ran between November 12 and December 30 with Serge Perrault appearing in two of the productions.

Yes Emma Hurok was Sol Hurok’s wife and was as you say was played by Anne Bancroft in the film.

The production of Le Combat was indeed by William dollar with scenic and costume design by Marie Laure.

Ps I have made two small corrections to my original post.

In case anyone is interested the Fox Movie Channel is showing Tonight We Sing on Monday, August 17, 6:00 am ET.

this is likely the AUTUMN LEAVES segment cut from the movie, ostensibly with this Perrault looking like something of an outtake from Danny Kaye's "Hans Christian Andersen" as partner to Toumanova's sylph.

You're right! It's the hat, I think. I wonder why they selected this photo for publicity: Toumanova looks uncharacteristically tentative ... and awkward.

It looks as though she is trying to prevent the top of her costume from falling down to her waist.

I'd be worried too, in that pose in that costume...

[posted while duffster was posting.. I concur!]

There's definitely A LOT of space-(and skin)-in between her bustier upper lines and her neck... Yeah...it looks somewhat weird...(maybe she was one of those people with very long torsos compared to the length from the waist down...?)

Funny, but my first thought was that she was in the process of slipping on one of those paper leaves. Do we have a "WOOOOPS!" emoticon?

rg, you've looked at so many of these publicity shots. Have you seen anything quite like this?

actually i haven't seen that many publicity shots from movies with dancing.
this one strikes me as a lucky, and hoped for, snap of a moment from this number's choreography.
Perrault is animated in his way w/ the leg into which he leans on demi-point.
in sum it all looks more like caught animation than a carefully held pose.
one must factor i suppose into all, this Toumanova's age - she was nearing her mid-thirties and had quite a career behind her. there is a tension to her upper body in most of her moments on screen, especially in the dancing footage; also a strong determination.
my guess is that this was the 'moment' the photographer, perhaps in consultation w/ the dancers, wanted and the overall effect is what was welcomed by the publicity team.
the costume bodice position was perhaps a minor matter.
such stills were posted in vitrines outside theaters, and not necessarily meant for the scrutiny of scans on ballet chat sites, etc.

It is the thinnest I have ever seen Toumanova. I can only surmise that she dieted strenuously for the camera, and lost her bosom in the process. My blog (click above) has my favorite photo of her...take a look. I saw Petit's company during the visits Leonid mentioned, but, alas, I do not recall Perrault. I was more than likely dazzled by Rene Jeanmaire and Colette Marchand, and did not pay too much attention to others.

I can't imagine there was less scrutinizing outside the theater.

I suspect the costume didn't seem so risqué when Toumanova dropped her collar bones back down... it was just an unfortunate moment.

Funny, my immediate reaction, primarily from the tension in Toumanova's upper body, was that it was a posed moment. Nothing about Perrault suggests movement to me. Also, has it ever been customary to have photographers shooting stills while the filming is underway? Wouldn't that risk them interfering with the movie cameras?

QUOTE

the costume bodice position was perhaps a minor matter.

Ooooh, I don't know. It 's pretty precarious there, quite risque for its time. I doubt it was a minor matter.

Shouldn't have made a difference. The movie studios employed hundreds of skilled seamstresses who could make last-minute alterations for such eventualities.

QUOTE

My blog (click above) has my favorite photo of her...take a look.

Just beautiful! Thanks for bringing our attention to it again. Here's the direct link.