• Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Biography
• Themes: Dancer's Life
• Director: Ken Russell
• Main Cast: Vivian Pickles, Ken Russell
• Release Year: 1966
• Country: UK
• Run Time: 66 minutes

Plot

Not to be confused with the lavish 1968 biopic Isadora, the black-and-white Isadora Duncan was produced in 1966 for BBC television. Vivian Pickles stars as the free-spirited British ballet artiste of the post-World War I era, while an anonymous double handles the dance sequences. This 65-minute film was one of a series of irreverent biographies directed for television by enfant terrible Ken Russell. We know we're in Russell territory in the first scene, wherein the strangulation death of Isadora is recreated in loving detail, right down to the blood trickling from her lifeless lips. Russell's Isadora Duncan received its widest American exposure on public television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Review

In this 1966 docudrama, expressionist film director Ken Russell probes dancer Isadora Duncan's character and work, relying on old movie footage, dramatic re-creations, and interviews to piece together a portrait revealing Duncan as a capricious free spirit who made her own rules in her personal as well as her artistic life. The camera captures the revolutionary body whirls and arm upsweeps of Duncan's dance style as she animates the ebb and flow of her inner energies. (Among the cinematographers is legendary filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl.) Through sequences both real and staged, Russell uncovers a Duncan whose personal life is not unlike her dance style: It does what it wants and goes where it wants, without regard for the conventions of culture and morality. In the dramatic sequences, Vivian Pickles portrays Duncan; in archival documentary sequences, Duncan displays her own wild whimsicality. However, whether the audience sees Pickles or Duncan, director Russell delivers historical accuracy. Isadora Duncan was one of five "biodramas" Russell made for the BBC between 1965 and 1970. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Vivian Pickles - Isadora Duncan
• Ken Russell - Captain Patterson (uncredited)

Peter Bowles - Paris Singer
Sandor Eles - Bugatti
Alexei Jawdokimov - Yessenin
Murray Melvin - Reporter
Alita Naughton - Isadora's Secretary

Credit

Luciana Arrighi - Production Designer; Michael Bradsell - Editor; Dick Bush - Cinematographer; Ken Russell - Director; Ken Russell - Producer; Ken Russell - Screenwriter; Shirley Russell - Costume Designer; Brian Tufano - Cinematographer; Sewell Stokes - Screenwriter