The Unfinished Dance

1947 • 100 minutes

About this movie

Young Meg Merlin, who hero-worships a dancer at her elite ballet school, is heartbroken when prima ballerina La Darina 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 of dance films.

Ratings and reviews

Saw it when I was 7 years old. Loved it. I have never forgotten it. I am 63