The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 16
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 331
My Rating
Movie Info
Most baby-boomers are familiar with the Powell-Pressburger production of the Offenbach opera Tales of Hoffman only through the full-color stills from the film which were reproduced in the "Motion Picture" section of The World Book Encyclopedia. If this is your only memory of the film, we advise you to seek out a copy of this lengthy but visually enthralling picture as soon as possible. Metropolitan opera star Robert Rounseville plays Hoffman, a university student who is spectacularly unlucky in
Apr 4, 1951 Wide
Nov 22, 2005
Cast
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Moira Shearer
Stella -
Robert Rounseville
Hoffmann -
Robert Helpmann
Coppelius [The Tale Of ... -
Pamela Brown
Nicklaus -
Frederick Ashton
Cochenille [The Tale Of... -
Leonide Massine
Spalanzani [The Tale Of... -
Meinhart Maur
Luther -
John Ford
Nathaniel -
Richard Golding
Hermann -
Philip Leaver
Andreas -
Ludmilla Tchérina
Giulietta [The Tale Of ... -
Lionel Harris
Pitichinaccio [The Tale... -
Ann Ayars
Antonia [The Tale Of An... -
Mogens Wieth
Crespel [The Tale Of An... -
Jean Alexander
Mother [The Tale of Ant... -
Edmund Audran
Cancer -
Dorothy Bond
Singer -
Owen Brannigan
Singer -
-
Monica Sinclair
Singer -
René Soames
Singer
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All Critics (16) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (3) | DVD (9)
Hard to take, despite the clear personal commitment of director Michael Powell and the enormous amount of talent on display in the photography, set design, and choreography.
Top CriticAs intensely expressionistic as any film since Caligari, and at the same time a veritable nova of springtime élan, the movie inhabits a unique puppet-theater universe, and could seduce a eunuch.
A lush, resplendent production that's a treat to eye and ear.
It sates the senses without striking any real dramatic fire.
Sumptuous spectacle.
One of the most completely realized marriages of color, movement, and music in the medium's history.
While the dizzying array of design elements and magnificent vocal performances is impressive, 138 minutes is just too long to keep the interest of any but the pure opera devotee.
Lavishly mounted with some of the same actors of The Red Shoes, this filmed operetta is more impressive in its production design (Oscar nominated) than emotional impact.
As with The Red Shoes, the Archers achieve a truly amazing fantasy world, almost like a cartoon in which anything is possible.
For all the spectacle, it is more abstract than involving and the film never pumps with the blood of romantic passion that flows through so many Powell movies.
... a truly sumptuous opera--one of cinema's best efforts.
The result is a testament to both [Powell and Pressburger's] creativity and the inherent limitations of trying to transform one medium into another.
Criterion offers a superb DVD treatment that will be heaven for fans of this largely unseen Powell and Pressburger effort.
Eye candy for aesthetes.
An unusual, magical, cinematically brilliant movie that deserves to be seen.
Audience Reviews for The Tales of Hoffmann
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Foreign Titles
- The Tales of Hoffman (DE)
- The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) (UK)
"The Tales of Hoffman" is a highly entertaining mix of ballet and opera, where Moira Shearer dances her legs off while everybody else sings their hearts out. Visually, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger pull out all the stops with the aid of cinematographer Christopher Challis who makes the perfect use of Techicolor for these dreamlike fantasia, each set in a different locale. As such as the movie is about the different expressions of art(Hoffman is a famed poet by the end), these settings also resemble paintings and are works of art in themselves. It is no wonder then that Hoffman gets so lost in them, missing what is right in front of him all the time, the constant companionship of his faithful friend Nicklaus(played by Pamela Brown, thus even adding a bit of genderblending into the equation) through thick and thin.