Tamara Toumanova Movies
Movie actress and internationally acclaimed ballet star Tamara Toumanova is said to have been born on a Russian train heading for Paris. At the time, her parents were fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. Once safely relocated, Toumanova studied ballet in Paris and in 1924 became a professional ballerina. As a young woman, she performed with a number of highly regarded troupes beginning with a starring performance with the Paris Opera Ballet in 1929. Three years later Toumanova joined George Balanchine's Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo. She would continue on to dance with equally prestigious troupes for the next four decades. But Toumanova did not allow herself to be cast only as a classical dancer; she also wanted to act and to sing a wide variety of music. She made her Broadway debut in the 1939 musical Stars in Your Eyes. Toumanova made her feature film debut in the pre-WWII epic tribute to the Soviet Union opposite another debuting actor, Gregory Peck, in Days of Glory (1943). Though the picture didn't fare well at the box office, both Peck and Toumanova received favorable reviews. The same year the picture came out the dancer married its producer, Casey Robinson. The marriage didn't last. Toumanova continued to dance for 40 more years while also working on-stage and appearing occasionally in feature films. She made her final screen appearance in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG13
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In Billy Wilder's cinematic homage to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British stage luminary Robert Stephens plays Holmes, while Colin Blakely is his friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. This self-described "hitherto suppressed and thoroughly fascinating" tale concerns Holmes' search for a missing mining engineer -- a case that may have a far-reaching effect on the national security of England. Along the way, Holmes falls in love for the first time in his life, with enigmatic foreign beauty Gabrielle Valladon (Genevieve Page). In this 1970 film, Wilder emphasizes such then-current topics as homosexuality (notably during the film's prologue) and drug addiction. Christopher Lee, a former screen Holmes himself, has a cameo (minus toupee) as Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes. Heavily re-edited and rearranged both before and after its release, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was a box-office disappointment when it came out in 1970. Since that time, its reputation has grown immeasurably, especially among those lucky enough to have seen a complete print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely, (more)
A double agent has to contend with enemies on both sides of the political fence as well as the woman he loves in this thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Prof. Michael Armstrong (Paul Newman) is an gifted American physicist who, at the height of the Cold War, decides to defect to East Germany. To his surprise, his fiancée, fellow scientist Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews) follows him, and she soon discovers Armstrong is no traitor, but acting as a secret undercover agent. As Armstrong attempts to ingratiate himself with political and scientific factions in East Germany, Gromek (Wolfgang Kieling) becomes his guide, though Armstrong is aware he's a government agent assigned to trail him, and as he tries to shake Gromek, Armstrong realizes his new "friend" knows what his real agenda happens to be. Torn Curtain was one of the rare Hitchcock films from his "classic" era which did not feature a score by Bernard Herrman; due to objections from his studio, Hitchcock removed Herrman from the project, though excerpts from the score he had begun were included as a bonus on the film's DVD release in 2002. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, (more)
- 1956
MGM's Invitation to the Dance was the fruition of Gene Kelly's long-standing dream to create a plotless "concert" feature. Eschewing dialogue, Kelly tells three stories entirely through the medium of dance. The first sequence is a mime-like Pagliacci story, with Kelly as the Clown and Igor Youskevitch and Claire Sombert as the Lovers. The second vignette, "Ring Around the Rosy," tells the story of a bracelet as it is passed from owner to owner. The best is saved till last: "Sinbad the Sailor," wherein Kelly shares screen time with a plethora of animated cartoon characters, courtesy of MGM house cartoonists William Hanna and Joe Barbera. Carol Haney appears briefly as Scheherezade, and also posed for the writhing cartoon serpent. Considered totally unsellable by the MGM higher-ups, Invitation to the Dance was shelved upon its completion in 1952, and didn't see the light of day for nearly four years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Kelly, Igor Youskevitch, (more)
Deep in My Heart is the MGM-ified biography of composer Sigmund Romberg, here played by José Ferrer. Evidently the scripters didn't feel that the life of Romberg (as set down by author Elliott Arnold, whose book was used as the film's basis) had enough drama to fill out two hours and ten minutes. As a result, the film is overstocked with guest stars, performing such Romberg standards as "One Alone," "Lover Come Back to Me," "When I Grow Too Old to Dream," "Will You Remember," and "Stout-Hearted Men." Among these celebrities are Ann Miller, Vic Damone, Jane Powell, Tony Martin, Cyd Charisse, Rosemary Clooney, and Gene Kelly, the latter performing a dance duet with his seldom-seen brother, Fred. For all the heady competition, it is José Ferrer who renders the most memorable production number: a one-man presentation of the Romberg musical comedy Jazzboat, in which Ferrer assumes all the roles, from star Al Jolson's to the entire female chorus! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Helen Traubel, (more)
- 1953
Tonight we Sing is the life story of legendary impresario Sol Hurok, impersonated herein by David Wayne. A lover of the arts, young immigrant Hurok despairs when he realizes he has no musical or artistic talents. Thus it is that, despite great personal and financial sacrifice, Hurok devotes his life to discovering and nurturing other performers and bringing them to Broadway. Among his more celebrated protégés are Russian opera-singer Feodor Chaliapin (Ezio Pinza) and violinist Eugene Ysaye (Isaac Stern). Other notables making guest appearances are singer Jan Peerce and Roberta Peters and ballerina Tamara Toumanova. Anne Bancroft co-stars as Hurok's gentle, patient wife Emma. Based on the autobiography by Sol Horuk (co-written with Ruth Goode), Tonight We Sing was produced for 20th Century-Fox by George Jessel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Wayne, Ezio Pinza, (more)
- 1944
Like Song of Russia and Mission to Moscow before it, Days of Glory is a paean to the courage and resourcefulness of the Soviet Union during WW2 (this was long before the Russians became the stock villains in Hollywood films!) Producer Casey Robinson took a gamble with the project, casting the leading roles with movie newcomers. Heading the cast is Broadway actor Gregory Peck as Vladimir, the leader of a band of Soviet guerilla fighters. Tamara Toumanova, former premier ballerina of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, costars as Nina, whose love for Vladimir is surpassed by her love for Mother Russia (Toumanova was at the time the wife of producer Robinson). The actors speak in long, lyrical monologues about freedom, sacrifice and the indomitability of the human spirit: fascinating at first, the excess verbiage begins to wear on the viewer after three or four reels. In traditional underground-movie fashion, hero and heroine are obliged to give up their own lives for the sake of their countrymen, in a reasonably spectacular climactic battle sequence. Budgeted at nearly a million dollars, Days of Glory lost heavily at the box-office, though critics and audiences alike were in agreement that Gregory Peck had some potential as a screen presence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tamara Toumanova, Gregory Peck, (more)
