Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

mark.waltz This is a delightfully campy melodrama that delights in its often unintentionally funny script by Ben Hecht. It also features one of the mist delightfully bad performances from its sexy but shamefully rotten leading man, Ivan Kirov, who gets to say lines such as "I'd like pick you up right now and hold you until you were tattooed on me" while sounding like Jack Nicholson. Leading lady Viola Essen isn't much better, but she's a reactor to his character's madness, and doesn't get the chance to speak such outlandish lines.Coming two years before the classic ballet movie, "The Red Shoes", this deals with a sensitive yet masterful ballet dancer (Kirov) who may or may not have killed his wife before a performance of "The Spectre of the Rose" ballet. Imperious ballet instructor Judith Anderson, once a great ballet star herself, warns Essen of the danger, but she refuses to listen. When Kirov dances (especially shirtless), he has everybody's attention, but perhaps he should have kept his mouth closed.Top billed Anderson gets many showy moments, but while her lines are often very funny, she delivers them masterfully. On the cusp of her great theatrical triumph in "Medea", this film is as close to her stage work as she got, even as the notorious Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca". Another great performance comes from Michael Chekhov as a hanger on who becomes Anderson's confidante. Lionel Stander gets some great lines as well, making the real star of this art house film its script. This ranks as one of Republic pictures great artistic films, showing what it could do on an A budget.

MartinHafer "Andre is not a man...he is a shadow that flickers on the wall..."Andre Sanine: Hug me with your eyes. Haidi: I am. Andre Sanine: Harder. Such is much of the dialog in this film. To be blunt, it's among the worst written dialog I've ever heard and it's often unintentionally funny. Because it is so incredibly bad, it makes it hard to believe that the dialog was written by the incredibly respected guy who wrote such classics as "The Front Page", "Kiss of Death" and many other good films. Perhaps the director should have stepped in and objected, but in this case Hecht was also the director! The bottom line is that the only reasons to watch the film are to laugh at the tripe they consider dialog or if you hated Hecht and wanted to see his worst. As for the story...who cares.

julesngold You must see this movie. We were baffled and amused by the incomprehensible dialogue, stone-faced acting, and ridiculous plot of this ballet/murder mystery written and directed by Ben Hecht(!?). Actually, we were more than amused, we were in physical pain from continual laughter! Dame Judith Anderson manages to rise above this surreal debacle and provide an intelligent performance. On the other end of the scale is legendary acting teacher Michael Chekhov, nephew of Anton, who is so over-the-top that doubts arose in our minds about his acting theories.The fact that Hecht, writer of hard-boiled cynical tales (The Front Page), would write such loopy dialogue leads us to theorize he meant this to be tongue-in-cheek. We can only hope.See this film!

nick-282 I am surprised and even saddened that there are no other votes or comments for this extraordinary film about the ballet world, because that would seem to mean that no one using IMDB has seen it; you are missing one of the most unique films ever made.Ben Hecht wrote and Ben Hecht directed this surreal film about a dancer in the eccentric world of ballet who is obsessed with a ballerina; there are few if any obsessions that are not destructive, and I will not give away the ending, but it is spectacular and moving. You will not forget this film once you have seen it.