User Reviews

This was a 1947 film featuring Margaret O'Brien and Cyd Charisse. It also showcased Danny Thomas in his first film role. I initially recorded this film because I was intrigued by the synopsis in the Dish guide: "A ballerina arranges an accident to cripple her mentor's foreign rival." It sounded very dark, especially for a movie with Margaret O'Brien and Cyd Charisse. I thought the film was pretty good, even if the film didn't follow through with the plot described in the synopsis.

While O'Brien did plot to sabotage her mentor's rival's performance, she wasn't trying to cripple or injure her. What was interesting about this film was the way it framed O'Brien's struggle with her conscience versus her reality. While the film was so-so, I thought that O'Brien's was the standout performance in the film. It's a shame that she wasn't able to make the transition between child and adult performer. She may have been able to achieve a Patty Duke type career as I believe that O'Brien had the chops. I also thought that O'Brien executed her ballet steps very well.

"The Unfinished Dance" is a color MGM film made in 1947 that depends on the star power and dancing ability of little Margaret O'Brien. Here she plays Meg, a nine-year-old ballet student enamored of the gorgeous prima ballerina, played by Cyd Charisse in a very early role. When the company brings in "La Darina" (Karin Booth) to do some performances, O'Brien is determined that she not succeed. In order for the dancer to be humiliated, she plans, with the help of a friend (Elinor Donahue), to douse the lights during her ballet. It all plays out, except that a trap door opens by mistake, and La Darina's career is over. When La Darina turns to teaching and takes a big interest in Meg's dancing, Meg's guilt becomes unbearable.

The ballet segments are beautiful, and while the intensity of O'Brien's performance may not be for everyone, she is excellent. I confess that she's always been a favorite of mine. Danny Thomas, in a role written for Danny Kaye, makes his debut in this film. It's a somewhat saccharine role, but he appoints himself well.

Charisse is good as a shallow, ambitious dancer who really isn't worthy of Meg's adoration, and Karin Booth is lovely as La Darina, and she's absolutely stunning to boot.

Not to everyone's taste, but a nice niche film from MGM.

I am a grandma now, but as a five year old, I viewed this movie in a very small town theater. After I saw this movie with a five year old's eyes, I not only wanted to be a ballerina, but I wanted to be Margaret O'Brien. Not being able to have dance lessons, I danced on my own. My aunt made me a beautiful outfit, and I was in heaven. Now, move ahead 20 years. I have a daughter who wanted to dance, and of course I sent her for lessons. She is now a very successful, and talented dance teacher. I would love for her to see this movie, but I don't know where, or how to get it. This movie has not only been an influence on one generation, but on two. I wish there were more movies of this calaber. Simple, but oh so good.

Oh, I was so thrilled when I saw a Margaret O'Brien film on the TCM slate for today!!! And then when it came on in COLOR!!! My daughters were in dance lessons most of their lives and one continued to dance even after becoming a mom and a teacher. They would love to see this old movie. Since I am watching the movie currently, I can't comment on the overall, but I am thrilled to see such a young Danny Thomas! He looks a little like Mandy Patinkin. Just watching makes me smile and think of my own childhood, dancing, dreaming. Just know out there, that you can still find this movie on TCM. The Technicolor is vibrant and the values are old-fashioned and lovely. The blacker elements are still to come -- hang in there and watch it with me...all the way to the end!!!

I have to give this film 7 out of 10 stars for originality (yes, I saw it was a remake of a 1938 French film, but it is still quite original). It's always great to see Cyd Charisse dance or do anything in a movie, and she is certainly showcased in this film as an alluring but slightly shallow prima ballerina. The real draw, though, is Margaret O'Brien as Meg, a frighteningly intense little girl who idolizes Charisse as the resident ballet star. Meg's rather shocking actions are equally shockingly glossed over in the end. The would-be feel-good coda is not the least bit convincing! What a high price Meg's victim had to pay, despite the faraway look of goodness in La Darina's glamorous eyes! But O'Brien specialized in intense, scary little girls, didn't she? Her crime in this film and the way in which she is haunted by it remind me of her hysterical confession to "murder" in "Meet Me in St. Louis." She was a strange and very talented little girl, and she is an impressive dancer in this film, too. You can't fudge dancing "en pointe," or you couldn't in 1947, anyway, with the camera focused simultaneously on your face and feet. This is not your everyday forties movie ...

Even if it had turned out very badly, "The Unfinished Dance" would have been an extraordinary film. Back in the late 1940's, making a large budget film was actually a more corporate decision than it is today. Which makes you wonder how something that is a weird mix of "The Red Shoes" and a pre-teen "Crime & Punishment" was ever approved for production.

Fortunately things turned out very well and for today's viewers the film's uniqueness is not the only reason to watch it. Most likely it was intended as a vehicle to showcase nine year old Margaret O'Brien's acting and dancing talents. O'Brien was an extremely hard working and motivated child actress, and "The Unfinished Dance" is the most accomplished of her many solid performances. She really gets to demonstrate her range, moving between her standard self-parodying cuteness and a convincing demonic side that should be quite a nice surprise to first-time viewers.

There are some extremely slick ballet scenes, with Cyd Charisse and Karin Booth (if it is not Booth's actual dancing they did a seamless job of matching close-ups and master shots). The Swan Lake scene is especially effective with the stage floor covered in mirrors to simulate the surface of the lake.

Little Meg Merlin (O'Brien) worships the featured dancer Ariane Bouchet (Charisse) at her ballet school. When guest dancer La Daria (Booth) displaces her for the season, Meg and her friend Josie (a very young Elinor Donahue) conspire to sabotage her performance by turning off the stage lights in mid-dance. Things go horribly wrong when Meg throws the wrong switch. La Daria suffers a career ending injury. Meg and Josie promise to keep Meg's involvement a secret.

This gives O'Brien the whole second half of the film to play the Raskolnikov role, as she is torn between satisfaction that her idol has reclaimed the top spot in the company and guilt because of the unintended consequences of her actions. The guilt becomes too much to bear when La Daria becomes her instructor and demonstrates far more interest in Meg's dancing than her idol Bouchet ever did.

"The Unfinished Dance" has a more contemporary shot selection than the standard 1940's-50's film. The story benefits from many close-ups of O'Brien's face, with the use of reaction shots more frequently than I can recall in any other film from this time period. O'Brien's expressiveness is nicely showcased and she is certainly up to the challenge.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I realize it's not exactly "Red Shoes" (hell, it's not even "Turning Point"), but if you can somehow block out the sentimental and unfunny film debut of Danny Thomas and manage to overlook the crappy acting (but not the lovely dancing) of Karin Booth you won't be too bored. Helping enormously is a fine performance from Cyd Charisse (who bears an eerie resemblance to Tulsi Gabbard) as a shallow, self centered ballerina twit. Indeed, Charisse is so good in this kind of a role I'm kinda surprised she didn't do it more often. And, as usual, Margaret O'Brien is the anti Shirley Temple, which is strictly ok by me. Give it a C plus.

This movie is okay. A pleasant but saccharine MGM Technicolor musical film used as a vehicle for showing off beautiful Cyd Charisse's skills as a ballet dancer. But this film is actually a remake of a brilliant film, the truly thrilling "Ballerina" (aka "La Mort du cygne") a 1938 French film. This unforgettably romantic and atmospheric classic film about the price of art and ego starred the great dancers Yvonne Chauvire and Mia Slavenska along with a wonderful cast. The moody black and white photography vividly conjures the world of the Paris Opera House, both center stage and backstage. The film creates a world that is unforgettable.

If you liked "Unfinished Dance" don't miss the incredible original film.

"Unfinished" does have also have some interest for the rare glimpses of great dancers, George Zoritch among them, that it offers.

The genius of this movie is how it deconstructs backstabbing, bribery and alliances-making by portraying adorable little girls in tutus enacting an all out war among the pre-teen chorus of a New York Ballet. The object they're leveraging around? Sabotage of a prima ballerina by one girl who desperately supports a rival. It may sound cute, but the outcomes are very serious. When you see an 8 year-old child leaning on a roommate and angling bribes, it really takes all of the "honor" out of strong-arm tactics.

On the other hand, the most adorable scene is when a 3 year-old performs an audition for a tiny tot solo. You'll giggle out loud (even my grandfather did).

For anyone who would like to catch this movie, it's on rotation on TMC, a basic cable channel (I think that's Turner Movie Channel, but correct me if I'm wrong please).

Cyd Charisse is my favorite of all the Golden Age dancer/actresses.A couple of weeks ago when TCM was showing a full day of her films,I decided to spend a few hours watching. This film,The Unfinished Dance, was unfamiliar to me,so I decided to check it out. Oh boy.

Miss Charisse is of course,as beautiful as ever and her dancing is wonderful as usual,but there are enough plot holes and total implausibilities in this film to make it completely unbelievable.

First,we have a ballet school with the most untalented group of budding ballerinas with the worst attitudes ever. Our main ballerina to be is Meg Merlin played by child actress Margaret O' Brien. Miss O'Brien was to the 40s what Shirley Temple was to the 30s. She was actually talented,as evidenced by her performance in Meet Me in St. Louis, where she held her own and then some against Judy Garland. Here,she is an insufferable brat with a mean streak and a horrendous girl crush on Prima Ballerina Mlle. Bouchet,played by Cyd Charisse.Mlle.Bouchet is a wonderful dancer,but she's as shallow as a kiddie wading pool. We get to see her petulant side when she discovers that the ballet company is getting a new artist in residence,La Darina,played by Karin Booth. La Darina is supposedly European,but she speaks perfect English,with an American accent,no less. Okay. Anyway,Meg is so devoted to Mlle. Bouchet that she is willing to do anything to see that her crush becomes a huge star. This includes sabotaging La Darina's performance of Swan Lake which results in the dancer being hurt and possibly never being able to dance again. Meg's frenemy Josie(Elinore Donahue) knows what Meg did and begins blackmailing her to keep what she knows from becoming public knowledge. There's also another little brat that suspects something is up and she keeps pestering Josie to let her in on it. Yeah,these kids are great at backstabbing and blackmail. Dancing,not so much. The ballet students range in age from about 6 to 11. They are already dancing on their toes. No reputable dance school would put kids that young on their toes.

Then there is young Meg's home life. It appears she is an orphan that now lives with her aunt, a chorus girl, over the shop of Mr. Paneros. Mr. Paneros,played by Danny Thomas, specializes in selling and repairing watches and clocks. Some have criticized Thomas's performance here. To be fair,it was his first film role,also I'm sure he was directed to play the Paneros character as "ethnic" as possible. In the 40s there was no shading,if a character wasn't a WASP, that person was usually a caricature or stereotype.Check out Mlle. Bouchet's African American maid later in the film for an even more egregious stereotype. Anyway,Paneros is in love with the Auntie, who takes advantage of this when she goes away on tour and leaves little Meg with her "almost Uncle." Apparently,Paneros has no problem with Meg wandering all over town by herself, as she shows up in places unexpectedly such as the upscale department store where Bouchet and her fiancé are shopping(Meg gets a hat out of that trip) and La Darina's house. The film continues to pile up implausibilities until the very end when it comes out that Meg was responsible for Darina's injury and there is no,absolutely not one,comeuppance! Does she get thrown out of ballet school?No. Does she go to juvie? Nope.She continues to dance, but not before she also manages to break up Bouchet and her fiancé. Cyd Charisse later did much better films,so did Danny Thomas and he and Elinore Donahue became sitcom stars as well. Watch these actors in those things. Skip this.

In all my years as a film buff, my only exposure to THE UNFINISHED DANCE (1947) was a black-and-white still image from it in a publication I don't recall. It never ran on television when I was growing up, it never played at revival theaters, and no one ever wrote about it or called attention to it in any of the thousands of articles and book chapters on classic Hollywood cinema I've read over the decades. So when I finally watched it, after recording it off TCM on October 8, 2013, I was astounded at how good it was. Why had no one remarked on this film before? Why is this not touted as, perhaps, Hollywood's greatest film about ballet? Everyone talks about Powell & Pressburger's THE RED SHOES (1948), made in England a year later, but no one mentions this film. Granted, THE RED SHOES is some kind of artistic milestone, when judged by its cinematography, sets, costumes, choreography and prestige cast, but it always left me a bit cold emotionally. It depicts a rarefied world with characters that seem more literary creations than drawn from real life. THE UNFINISHED DANCE operates on a much more expressive emotional plane and its characters seem much more real to me. These characters are truly passionate about dance and they live and breathe it every waking moment the way so many dancers in real life do. The young girls in the film who attend the ballet school come out of working-class New York and we can feel the hunger and the energy these characters bring to their chosen art. And the dance numbers, while not quite as long or lavish as those in THE RED SHOES, are all beautifully shot, staged and orchestrated, all in glorious MGM Technicolor.

What fuels this whole film, of course, is the intensity of Margaret O'Brien's central performance as Meg Merlin, a struggling ballet student who worships the company's prima ballerina, Ariane Bouchet (Cyd Charisse), and would, it turns out, do anything to propel her rise to stardom. When a visiting ballet star, La Darina (Karin Booth), is seen as a rival, Meg commits a surreptitious act that injures La Darina and threatens to end her ballet career forever. Meg's guilt drives the rest of the film, going so far as to ruin her close friendship with fellow student Josie (Mary Eleanor Donahue), and possibly derail her future in ballet. Eventually, she reaches out to La Darina and begins the journey to forgiveness and redemption. It's quite a stirring and emotional spectacle and showcases some wonderful actresses who dominate the narrative.

O'Brien, who was all of ten when she made this, gave closeups steeped in feeling like no other child actress. Every emotion that arises during the film plays out on her face. I don't know that I've ever seen another performance by a child star in Hollywood that comes close. One can make a case for Peggy Ann Garner's performances in JANE EYRE (1943) and A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN (1945), and even O'Brien's earlier performance in MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (1944), but I think THE UNFINISHED DANCE has them all beat. Cyd Charisse and Karin Booth merely have to react to O'Brien to give fine performances. I've seen Booth in other films, but I don't know why she didn't have a more substantial career. She's quite good here, especially in closeup where her striking features are best appreciated, and more than adequate in those dance scenes where she's seen up close. She was, however, doubled in the long shots. As for Charisse, I've seen a number of her MGM musicals, but I've never seen her do the kind of furious ballet dancing she does here. It's quite breathtaking and I wish she'd had more opportunities to display this side of her talent.

Interestingly, the largest male role in the film goes to a then-newcomer who was "introduced" in this film, none other than future sitcom star Danny Thomas. He plays a Greek immigrant shopowner named Paneros who runs a clock store and is the sometime boyfriend of Meg's aunt, who's seen only briefly before heading off on a vaudeville tour and leaving Meg in the care of Paneros, an arrangement that would raise plenty of eyebrows if depicted in a film today. Thomas is certainly charming, but his accented performance is much more self-consciously "folksy" than it would have been if played by one of Hollywood's more skilled character actors at the time. Still, as someone who watched his sitcom ("Make Room for Daddy") as a child, I found his presence here quite comforting and it gave the film added resonance. Another future sitcom star on hand is Elinor Donahue (billed as Mary Eleanor Donahue). I had no idea she'd started as a child performer and it's a fun challenge to imagine how Josie, who knows Meg's secret and holds it over her like a dagger, leading to some vicious behavior, would morph into Robert Young's beloved and level-headed "Princess" on "Father Knows Best." Who knew? She's quite good here and I wonder what other good parts she had as a child.

I'm pleased to see that this film has other positive reviews here. I just wish it were better known and more widely seen. There is a DVD out from the Warner Archive, but it has no extras, not even an audio commentary. It would be great to get one from Margaret O'Brien while she's still with us.

I too am a grandma who saw this movie when I was 4 years old, it may have been one of the first movies I ever saw. I have been searching for it as well. It used to be shown occasionally on movie matinée TV shows, I am told, but with so much competition now, I doubt if it will return. It holds fond memories for me as well, it gave a poor little kid something to dream about. I would love to see it again. Margaret O'Brien was one of the all time great child stars, we don't see or hear enough about her work. Cyd Charise, and Danny Thomas were also in The Unfinished Dance. I thought with their passing the movie might be revisited but I never saw it listed. If anyone knows if it is still around in some studio archives, there are a few of us, or more, who would love seeing it again.

I guess ballet maniacs will love anything to do with their art, but I can't see what anyone else could get out of this dreadful movie. Lovely, lovely Margaret O'Brien, the most remarkable child actress in movies (I love Shirley, but Margaret was special) spends the first half of the movie scowling and the second half on the verge of tears. Ordinarily one wants to dwell on her expressive face; here one can't bear to watch her at all.

In its attitude toward Cyd Charisse, the movie can't make up its mind. First we are meant to regard her as selfish for wanting to continue her career after marriage. Then we are meant to see her as selfish for wanting to abandon her art, which means so much to so many people, for marriage. In any case, she is a very unsympathetic character.

Worst of all, this movie gave Danny Thomas his movie debut--and, wonder of wonders, it wasn't his last movie as well. He is an oh-so-humble immigrant who speaks quaintly broken English and believes that all people are nice and sings sentimental songs to the little girl and is in every way utterly vomit-inducing. But his character is only the most egregiously phony aspect of this phony-hysterical, phony-wholesome movie.

Don't let the movie poster fool you... this film is full of great melodrama and not just all saccharine. It's definitely worth seeking out if you can find it on DVD. An opportunity to see one of the era's finest young actresses Margaret O'Brien giving one of her most emotional performances. 8/10

Director:Henry Koster Writers:Paul Morand (story "La Morte du Cygne"), Myles Connolly Stars: Margaret O'Brien, Cyd Charisse, Karin Booth

The Unfinished Dance's performance sequences may be less classical and more Hollywood, but the film has dramatic elements: passionate devotion, melodrama, guilt, great production values, Technicolor .-- this film has amazing tapestry of colors and The Unfinished Dance also has MGM's soon-to-be prima ballerina, Cyd Charisse, and one of the best child actors of all time, Margaret O'Brien.

According to O'Brien, her mother, a former dancer, had seen the French film "La Morte du Cygne"and brought the idea of remaking it to MGM. The 9-year old Margaret trained for six months with Russian ballet teachers, and did her own dancing in the film. Margaret's prep really pays off and I could tell she had natural elegance and grace in her body movements in particular her flowing arm gestures.

Comedian Danny Thomas made his film debut in The Unfinished Dance, playing O'Brien's guardian. It was a warm and appealing performance. But Thomas's film career never really took off. When he turned to television in the early 1950s he became a huge star.

The Unfinished Dance, which sets the action at the Ballet School of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Young Meg Merlin, ( Margaret O'Brain ) who hero-worships a dancer at her elite ballet school, is heartbroken when prima ballerina La Darina (the stunning Karin Booth) arrives to rival her idol. So Meg devises a plan. One little tug on a light switch while La Darina dances Swan Lake will ruin the performance. But Meg pulls the wrong switch - the one that opens a stage trapdoor - and sends the prima ballerina into a career-ending plunge to the floor below. Margaret O'Brien and Cyd Charisse play two generations of dancers in this lavish Technicolor film that combines a tragic story of guilt and broken dreams with the opulence of ballet (among the elegant visuals: the mirrored floor that emulates the swans' watery domain). It's a must-see for fans little Margaret O'Brian or Cyd Charisse.

The Unfinished Dance as stated in one other comment is a remake of an incredible black and white French film called La Morte Du Cygne which unfortunately is rarely ever shown except in museums, film schools and art houses. Hopefully, someday it will be available. Until then, there's this thing. It's not totally bad. It has some great dance sequences and some great film moments but it also has Danny Thomas in what must be one of the worst screen performances ever put on film. The little girl, Margaret O'Brien, is also hard to take but if she were the worst thing about the movie, it wouldn't be so bad. Still, the plot is so incredible, the occasional bad writing, the totally wretched acting of Thomas, the bizarre stares of Margaret O'Brien and the many unnecessary and mawkish scenes can't completely ruin the film. It's still worth watching. The best thing to do is to record it when it appears on Turner Classic Movies and when you watch it fast forward every time Danny Thomas appears or Margaret O'Brien gets on your nerves.

When Cyd Charisse made THE UNFINISHED DANCE (1947) she was still a young starlet in the MGM stable, before her rise to stardom in 1950s Arthur Freed musicals like SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952), THE BAND WAGON (1953), BRIGADOON (1954), and SILK STOCKINGS (1957). (You can tell it's from her "early years" by the way her face is made-up.)

Fans and admirers of Charisse will want to check out this film for a chance to see her at home in the world of ballet. Many dancers in Hollywood were tap dancers, but Cyd Charisse came from a ballet background. The ballet influence is evident in her work in things like BRIGADOON, for instance, but in THE UNFINISHED DANCE we get to see Cyd Charisse do some real ballet, in a tutu and everything.

The real focus of the movie, however is Margaret O'Brien, MGM's child actress extraordinaire. THE UNFINISHED DANCE is a Hollywood remake of a fascinating French film LA MORT DU CYGNE (a.k.a. "BALLERINA") (1937). It concerns the girls of a dance academy and a sort of tragic mistake. O'Brien is a young dancer who idolizes ballerina Charisse and perceives a visiting prima ballerina (Karin Booth) as a threat. With her idol's best interests at heart, O'Brien sabotages Booth's performance. Booth suffers a career-altering injury and O'Brien is haunted by her guilt, even as Booth becomes a mentor for her at the academy.

Margaret O'Brien was a major child star in the 1940s and MGM adapted LA MORT DU CYGNE as a vehicle for their young actress. What's impressive is that MGM got ten-year-old Margaret O'Brien to actually learn ballet. O'Brien had never been known as a dancer, but she does her own dancing here and is convincing enough. Karin Booth, too, seems to do her own dancing on camera.

MGM adds Hollywood gloss to the plot from the original French film. The tragedy isn't quite so tragic. The irony not quite so defined. While it's a darker role than some would expect from Margaret O'Brien, it's not *too* dark. Danny Thomas plays O'Brien's gentle, vaguely ethnic, de facto guardian and sings a couple of cutesy tunes. The ballet sequences are staged in glorious Technicolor.

The plot is probably good enough for those who haven't seen the French film, although I personally feel the remake suffers by comparison. I prefer the French film for aesthetic and thematic reasons. I would highly recommend checking out LA MORT DU CYGNE ("BALLERINA") if the opportunity arises. It seems to be rather obscure but I caught it on Turner Classic Movies a few years back.

this is the best movie for every 40's colors about a young dance student accidentally cripples a teacher she doesn''t like and as for sure very well done movie and as always for goods of course I really like it and also the ending she really looks pretty but what I say Margaret O' Brien's early ones were OK if you guys can just watch her late ones, you'll really be interested in them. I'm going to show this to my 6 year old sister once it comes on again soon. And instead just look at some of the pictures from the movie on Childstarlets.com This movie kind of have to be rated PG cause' the only bad part about this movie is that Meg Merlin (Margaret O' Brien) gets Frightened by that wicked old monster thing I don't know how that got into this movie but it is really scary yep that almost made me feel shocked and possessed 10 out of 10 congratulations and Successful!

Even if you love ballet movies, it's not a guarantee that you'll like The Unfinished Dance. You'll probably like The Red Shoes better, and since I detested The Red Shoes, it's no surprise I also hated this one.

Young Margaret O'Brien is in ballet school, but her irresponsibility and constant tardiness results in her getting kicked out of class. Her friend, Danny Thomas in his first film, charms her teacher so she can continue her lessons and dance in the school production of Swan Lake. Margaret has a hero-worship relationship with ballerina Cyd Charisse, but when Karin Booth comes to town and takes the leading role away from Cyd, Margaret gets really, really upset.

Basically, if you absolutely love Swan Lake and love to see snippets of it in movies, and if you think Cyd Charisse is one of the greatest dancers in classic films, and if you want to see Danny Thomas in his first movie, and you like stories about cruel little children, and you want to see Margaret O'Brien scowl for ninety minutes, you'll like this movie. She gives quite a scowl, but after about fifteen minutes of it, I couldn't help but wish she'd get happier.

I love the ballet and dance on film, but I thought this movie was dreadful. The acting was ham fisted. Particularly annoying was a scowling, weeping Margaret O'Brien. The plot and diaglogue were ridiculous. Worst of all were the dancing and music. Cyd Charisse was an very accoplished dancer, but she simply didn't have the skills of a ballerina. The choreograpy was terrible and all of the dance numbers were at a ridculously fast tempo.