The Turning Point is a 1977 American drama film centered on the world of ballet in New York City, written by Arthur Laurents and directed by Herbert Ross. The film stars Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft, along with Leslie Browne, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Tom Skerritt. The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The script is a fictionalized version of the real-life Brown family and the friendship between ballerinas Isabel Mirrow Brown (whose daughter, Leslie Browne, stars in the film) and Nora Kaye.
Plot
DeeDee Rodgers leaves an eminent New York ballet company after becoming pregnant by Wayne, another dancer in the company. They marry and later move to Oklahoma City to run a dance studio. Emma Jacklin stays with the company and eventually becomes a prima ballerina and well-known figure in the ballet community.
While the company is on tour and performs a show in Oklahoma City, DeeDee and the family go to see the show and then have an after-party for the company at their home. The reunion stirs up old memories and things begin to unravel.
At the party, DeeDee's daughter Emilia, an aspiring dancer who is also Emma's goddaughter, is invited to take class with the company the following day. Afterwards, Emilia is asked to join the company but she does not immediately accept the offer as she wants to think it over. DeeDee and Wayne decide that DeeDee should go to New York with Emilia, who is rather shy and does not make friends as easily as her younger sister. Meanwhile, their son, Ethan, gets a scholarship to the company's summer program while Wayne and their other daughter stay in Oklahoma City.
Once in New York, they rent several rooms in Carnegie Hall with Madame Dakharova, a ballet coach. Emilia soon starts a relationship with a Russian dancer in the company, Yuri. DeeDee runs into the former conductor of the company and has an affair with him, which causes conflict between Emilia and DeeDee. Meanwhile, Emma argues with Arnold, the choreographer, about giving her a better role in his new ballet, which he refuses and leads Emma to suggest Emilia for the role instead. It is also revealed Emma has been seeing a married man, Carter. During rehearsal, Emilia has an argument with Arnold and storms out, going to a bar and getting drunk. She then shows up for the performance that night still drunk and Emma takes care of her, angering DeeDee. Emilia suffers when she sees Yuri getting involved with another dancer, Carolyn.
Emma and DeeDee eventually enter into major conflict. DeeDee resents that Emma dotes on Emilia, when she has criticized DeeDee for choosing family life over her career while Emma chose not to have children. DeeDee accuses Emma of telling her to get pregnant and have Wayne's baby so Emma could play the lead in Anna Karenina, which Emma later admits is true.
Eventually, misunderstandings are settled, with Emma and DeeDee working things out after a physical altercation. Emilia is announced as the star of the next season, and she and Yuri make up and agree to a professional partnership and nothing more. Deedee decides she is content with her life and the decision she made to leave professional ballet to have a family. Emma accepts that her performing days are numbered and she must embrace a different role within the company. DeeDee and Emma step onto the stage and reminisce together.
Cast
A number of actresses were offered the roles of Emma and DeeDee, including Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Doris Day.
Bancroft had no previous dance experience, while MacLaine had started her career as a dancer of ballet and other types. She appeared on Broadway performing in the musicals Me and Juliet and The Pajama Game.
The title "The Turning Point" is a double entendre, meaning a big change in a person's life and being on pointe.
Choreography for the film was done by Alvin Ailey and George Balanchine.
Background
Isabel Mirrow Brown and Nora Kaye were childhood friends. Their parents had immigrated from Russia around the same time and they lived in the same New York City brownstone building. Kaye was a few years older than Mirrow and encouraged her to train. Nora Kaye was in a relationship with Jerome Robbins in the early 1950s, but they never married, focusing on their careers instead. Robbins was also a known bisexual.